Real-time ultrasound-guided spinal anaesthesia: a prospective observational study of a new approach.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Conroy, P H

2013-01-01

Identification of the subarachnoid space has traditionally been achieved by either a blind landmark-guided approach or using prepuncture ultrasound assistance. To assess the feasibility of performing spinal anaesthesia under real-time ultrasound guidance in routine clinical practice we conducted a single center prospective observational study among patients undergoing lower limb orthopaedic surgery. A spinal needle was inserted unassisted within the ultrasound transducer imaging plane using a paramedian approach (i.e., the operator held the transducer in one hand and the spinal needle in the other). The primary outcome measure was the success rate of CSF acquisition under real-time ultrasound guidance with CSF being located in 97 out of 100 consecutive patients within median three needle passes (IQR 1-6). CSF was not acquired in three patients. Subsequent attempts combining landmark palpation and pre-puncture ultrasound scanning resulted in successful spinal anaesthesia in two of these patients with the third patient requiring general anaesthesia. Median time from spinal needle insertion until intrathecal injection completion was 1.2 minutes (IQR 0.83-4.1) demonstrating the feasibility of this technique in routine clinical practice.

Non-invasive Renal Denervation: Update on External Ultrasound Approaches.

Science.gov (United States)

Schmieder, Roland E; Ott, Christian; Bramlage, Peter

2016-06-01

In the last decade, intravenous renal denervation (RDN) has emerged as an alternative to pharmacological treatment in patients with resistant hypertension, but currently involves an invasive and technically challenging procedure. The Surround Sound™ system utilises externally delivered ultrasound to achieve RDN using a completely non-invasive, automated real-time tracking system coupled with a therapeutic delivery module thereby addressing these limitations. A brief history, technical overview and summary of preclinical and clinical studies of the KonaMedical Surround Sound™ system are presented. A literature search using the terms "renal denervation", "resistant hypertension" and "external ultrasound" was performed using PubMed, and references retrieved were selected based on relevancy and year of publication (date range 1991-2015). The Surround Sound™ system appears to be a promising approach to RDN which eliminates several of the factors currently limiting the intravenous approach. So far, it has demonstrated efficacy for reducing blood pressure in resistant hypertension patients with minimal adverse effects. Several double-blind, sham-controlled clinical trials are currently underway to confirm the validity of these findings.

Nonviral Technologies for Gene Therapy in Cardiovascular Research

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cheng-Huang Su

2008-06-01

Full Text Available Gene therapy, which is still at an experimental stage, is a technique that attempts to correct or prevent a disease by delivering genes into an individual's cells and tissues. In gene delivery, a vector is a vehicle for transferring genetic material into cells and tissues. Synthetic vectors are considered to be prerequisites for gene delivery, because viral vectors have fundamental problems in relation to safety issues as well as large-scale production. Among the physical approaches, ultrasound with its associated bioeffects such as acoustic cavitation, especially inertial cavitation, can increase the permeability of cell membranes to macromolecules such as plasmid DNA. Microbubbles or ultrasound contrast agents lower the threshold for cavitation by ultrasound energy. Furthermore, ultrasound-enhanced gene delivery using polymers or other nonviral vectors may hold much promise for the future but is currently at the preclinical stage. We all know aging is cruel and inevitable. Currently, among the promising areas for gene therapy in acquired diseases, the incidences of cancer and ischemic cardiovascular diseases are strongly correlated with the aging process. As a result, gene therapy technology may play important roles in these diseases in the future. This brief review focuses on understanding the barriers to gene transfer as well as describing the useful nonviral vectors or tools that are applied to gene delivery and introducing feasible models in terms of ultrasound-based gene delivery.

Design Issues for Therapeutic Ultrasound Angioplasty Waveguides

OpenAIRE

Noone, Declan; Gavin, Graham; McGuinness, Garrett

2008-01-01

Therapeutic ultrasound angioplasty is a new minimally invasive cardiovascular procedure for disrupting atherosclerotic lesions. Mechanical energy is transmitted in the form of ultrasound waves via long, flexible wire waveguides navigated to the lesion site through the vascular system. The underpinning principle of this technology is that plaque may be disrupted through a combination of direct contact ablation, pressure waves, cavitation and acoustic streaming, which all depend on the amplitud...

An ultrasound system for simultaneous ultrasound hyperthermia and photon beam irradiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Straube, William L.; Moros, Eduardo G.; Low, Daniel A.; Klein, Eric E.; Willcut, Virgil M.; Myerson, Robert J.

1996-01-01

Purpose: An existing ultrasound system has been adapted for simultaneous use with external photon beam irradiation. The system is being used to investigate the potential for increased biological benefit of simultaneously combined hyperthermia and external beam irradiation with currently achievable temperature distributions. Methods and Materials: An existing clinical ultrasound system has been modified for simultaneous operation with a 60 Co teletherapy machine. The generator, thermometry system, computer, and applicators are located inside the treatment room, while the monitor and system control are located at the control console. Two approaches have been used clinically to combine the two modalities. In the first approach, an en-face setup is used in which the ultrasound beam and the photon beam travel through the same window of entry to the tumor. This is achieved by a reflecting system designed to deflect the ultrasound to the tumor while positioning the ultrasound transducer outside the radiation beam. The reflecting system consists of water and water-equivalent materials except for a 1 mm sheet of polished brass that is used as the reflector. The relative pressure fields were measured in water at the same distance from the ultrasound source using a scanning hydrophone with and without the reflector at the two operating frequencies of the device (1.0 and 3.4 MHz) for two applicators. Radiation dosimetry measurements were performed to determine the relationship between 60 Co irradiation through the reflector and absorbed dose. In the second approach the ultrasound and the radiation beam travel into the tumor from different windows of entry such that the radiation beam passes through no portion of the water bolus prior to entering the patient. We have termed this approach the orthogonal approach. For both approaches, the radiation fraction is given in the middle of an uninterrupted 60-min hyperthermia treatment. Results: The system modifications did not impair

A deep learning approach for real time prostate segmentation in freehand ultrasound guided biopsy.

Science.gov (United States)

Anas, Emran Mohammad Abu; Mousavi, Parvin; Abolmaesumi, Purang

2018-06-01

Targeted prostate biopsy, incorporating multi-parametric magnetic resonance imaging (mp-MRI) and its registration with ultrasound, is currently the state-of-the-art in prostate cancer diagnosis. The registration process in most targeted biopsy systems today relies heavily on accurate segmentation of ultrasound images. Automatic or semi-automatic segmentation is typically performed offline prior to the start of the biopsy procedure. In this paper, we present a deep neural network based real-time prostate segmentation technique during the biopsy procedure, hence paving the way for dynamic registration of mp-MRI and ultrasound data. In addition to using convolutional networks for extracting spatial features, the proposed approach employs recurrent networks to exploit the temporal information among a series of ultrasound images. One of the key contributions in the architecture is to use residual convolution in the recurrent networks to improve optimization. We also exploit recurrent connections within and across different layers of the deep networks to maximize the utilization of the temporal information. Furthermore, we perform dense and sparse sampling of the input ultrasound sequence to make the network robust to ultrasound artifacts. Our architecture is trained on 2,238 labeled transrectal ultrasound images, with an additional 637 and 1,017 unseen images used for validation and testing, respectively. We obtain a mean Dice similarity coefficient of 93%, a mean surface distance error of 1.10 mm and a mean Hausdorff distance error of 3.0 mm. A comparison of the reported results with those of a state-of-the-art technique indicates statistically significant improvement achieved by the proposed approach. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Application of acoustic microscopy to assessment of cardiovascular biomechanics

Science.gov (United States)

Saijo, Yoshifumi; Sasaki, Hidehiko; Nitta, Shin-ichi; Tanaka, Motonao; Joergensen, Claus S.; Falk, Erling

2002-11-01

Acoustic microscopy provides information on physical and mechanical properties of biological tissues, while optical microscopy with various staining techniques provides chemical properties. The biomechanics of tissues is especially important in cardiovascular system because its pathophysiology is closely related with mechanical stresses such as blood pressure or blood flow. A scanning acoustic microscope (SAM) system with tone-burst ultrasound in the frequency range of 100-200 MHz has been developed, and attenuation and sound speed of tissues have been measured. In human coronary arteries, attenuation and sound speed were high in calcification and collagen, while both values were low in smooth muscle and lipid. Another SAM system with 800-MHz-1.3-GHz ultrasound was applied for aortas of Apo-E deficient mouse, which is known to develop atherosclerosis. Attenuation of ultrasound was significantly higher in type 1 collagen compared to type 3 collagen. Recently, a new type FFT-SAM using a single-pulse, broadband frequency range ultrasound (20-150 MHz) has been developed. Cardiac allograft was observed by FFT-SAM and the acoustic properties were able to grade allograft rejection. SAM provides very useful information for assessing cardiovascular biomechanics and for understanding normal and abnormal images of clinical ultrasound.

An office-based approach to emotional and behavioral risk factor reduction for cardiovascular disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Hochman, Daniel M; Feinstein, Robert E; Stauter, Erinn C

2013-01-01

There are many psychological risk factors for cardiovascular disease, and the ability to reduce mortality depends on an ability to integrate care of these risk factors with traditional Framingham cardiovascular risk and use them both in routine practice. The aim of this article is to provide an update of all the major emotional and behavioral cardiovascular risk factors along with a practical treatment model for implementation. First, we provide a review of major emotional and behavioral cardiovascular risk factors, the associated primary effect, and proposed mechanism of action. Second, we provide an office-based approach to cardiovascular risk factor reduction and methods of reducing barriers to implementation, called Prevention Oriented Primary Care-Abridged. The approach integrates several forms of detection, assessment using the 3As (ask, assess, assist), and Stages of Change approaches, and subsequent efficient and targeted treatment with either Motivational Interviewing or further office intervention. A case example is provided to help illustrate this process.

New approaches for improving cardiovascular risk assessment.

Science.gov (United States)

Paredes, Simão; Rocha, Teresa; Mendes, Diana; Carvalho, Paulo; Henriques, Jorge; Morais, João; Ferreira, Jorge; Mendes, Miguel

2016-01-01

Clinical guidelines recommend the use of cardiovascular risk assessment tools (risk scores) to predict the risk of events such as cardiovascular death, since these scores can aid clinical decision-making and thereby reduce the social and economic costs of cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, despite their importance, risk scores present important weaknesses that can diminish their reliability in clinical contexts. This study presents a new framework, based on current risk assessment tools, that aims to minimize these limitations. Appropriate application and combination of existing knowledge is the main focus of this work. Two different methodologies are applied: (i) a combination scheme that enables data to be extracted and processed from various sources of information, including current risk assessment tools and the contributions of the physician; and (ii) a personalization scheme based on the creation of patient groups with the purpose of identifying the most suitable risk assessment tool to assess the risk of a specific patient. Validation was performed based on a real patient dataset of 460 patients at Santa Cruz Hospital, Lisbon, Portugal, diagnosed with non-ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndrome. Promising results were obtained with both approaches, which achieved sensitivity, specificity and geometric mean of 78.79%, 73.07% and 75.87%, and 75.69%, 69.79% and 72.71%, respectively. The proposed approaches present better performances than current CVD risk scores; however, additional datasets are required to back up these findings. Copyright © 2015 Sociedade Portuguesa de Cardiologia. Published by Elsevier España. All rights reserved.

A randomised crossover study to compare the cross-sectional and longitudinal approaches to ultrasound-guided peripheral venepuncture in a model.

Science.gov (United States)

Griffiths, James; Carnegie, Amadeus; Kendall, Richard; Madan, Rajeev

2017-12-01

Ultrasound-guided peripheral intravenous access may present an alternative to central or intraosseous access in patients with difficult peripheral veins. Using venepuncture of a phantom model as a proxy, we investigated whether novice ultrasound users should adopt a cross-sectional or longitudinal approach when learning to access peripheral veins under ultrasound guidance. This result would inform the development of a structured training method for this procedure. We conducted a randomised controlled trial of 30 medical students. Subjects received 35 min of training, then attempted to aspirate 1 ml of synthetic blood from a deep vein in a training model under ultrasound guidance. Subjects attempted both the cross-sectional and longitudinal approaches. Group 1 used cross-sectional first, followed by longitudinal. Group 2 used longitudinal first, then cross-sectional. We measured the time from first puncture of the model's skin to aspiration of fluid, and the number of attempts required. Subjects also reported difficulty ratings for each approach. Paired sample t-tests were used for statistical analysis. The mean number of attempts was 1.13 using the cross-sectional approach, compared with 1.30 using the longitudinal approach (p = 0.17). Mean time to aspiration of fluid was 45.1 s using the cross-sectional approach and 52.8 s using the longitudinal approach (p = 0.43). The mean difficulty score out of 10 was 3.97 for the cross-sectional approach and 3.93 for the longitudinal approach (p = 0.95). We found no significant difference in effectiveness between the cross-sectional and longitudinal approaches to ultrasound-guided venepuncture when performed on a model. We believe that both approaches should be included when teaching ultrasound-guided peripheral vascular access. To confirm which approach would be best in clinical practice, we advocate future testing of both approaches on patients.

Assessment on the Prevention of Progression by Rosiglitazone on Atherosclerosis in diabetes patients with Cardiovascular History (APPROACH): study design and baseline characteristics.

Science.gov (United States)

Ratner, Robert E; Cannon, Christopher P; Gerstein, Hertzel C; Nesto, Richard W; Serruys, Patrick W; Van Es, Gerrit-Anne; Kolatkar, Nikheel S; Kravitz, Barbara G; Zalewski, Andrew; Fitzgerald, Peter J

2008-12-01

Rosiglitazone, a thiazolidinedione, has effects on insulin sensitivity and cardiovascular risk factors that may favorably impact the progression of coronary atherosclerosis. APPROACH is a double-blind randomized clinical trial comparing the effects of the insulin sensitizer rosiglitazone with the insulin secretagogue glipizide on the progression of coronary atherosclerosis. Patients with type 2 diabetes and coronary artery disease undergoing clinically indicated coronary angiography or percutaneous coronary intervention are randomized to receive rosiglitazone or glipizide for 18 months using a titration algorithm designed to provide comparable glycemic control between treatment groups. The primary end point is change in percent atheroma volume from baseline to study completion in a nonintervened coronary artery, as measured by intravascular ultrasound. Cardiovascular events are adjudicated by an end point committee. A total of 672 patients were randomized. The mean age was 61 years, hemoglobin A(1c) (HbA(1c)) 7.2%, body mass index 29.5 kg/m(2), and median duration of diabetes 4.8 years. At baseline, approximately half of the participants were receiving oral antidiabetic monotherapy (53.9%) with 27.5% receiving dual combination therapy and 17.9% treated with diet and exercise alone. Approximately two thirds of the participants (68%) had dyslipidemia, 79.9% hypertension, and 24% prior myocardial infarction. APPROACH has fully enrolled a high-risk patient population and will compare the glucose-independent effects of rosiglitazone and glipizide on the progression of coronary atherosclerosis, as well as provide additional data on the cardiovascular safety of rosiglitazone in patients with type 2 diabetes and coronary artery disease.

Patient-exposure data for doppler ultrasound

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stewart, H.F.; Silvis, P.X.; Smith, S.W.

1986-01-01

In recent years ultrasound imaging and Doppler blood flow measurements have become important tools for use in diagnostic medicine. Commercial pulse-echo imaging equipment was first introduced into commerce in 1963. The first commercial continuous wave Doppler unit was introduced to the marketplace in 1966. As equipment improved and applications developed, the industry experienced rapid growth in the 1970s. One of the more recent growth areas in the application of diagnostic ultrasound has been the use of pulsed Doppler equipment for cardiac applications. Prior to 1976, some continuous wave Doppler ultrasound was used for cardiovascular diagnosis. However, only a single manufacturer marketed a pulsed Doppler clinical instrument for cardiac or peripheral vascular diagnosis. Currently, many continuous wave and pulsed Doppler instruments are commercially available for both peripheral vascular and cardiac diagnosis. This chapter (1) briefly reviews current safety guidelines, regulations, and recommendations for diagnostic ultrasound; (2) discusses the patient-exposure intensities associated with Doppler ultrasound medical equipment and compare these levels of exposure with intensities from other medical ultrasound devices; and (3) considers some of the current information as it relates to the safety of diagnostic ultrasound

Cardiovascular System Sonographic Evaluation Algorithm: A New Sonographic Algorithm for Evaluation of the Fetal Cardiovascular System in the Second Trimester.

Science.gov (United States)

De León-Luis, Juan; Bravo, Coral; Gámez, Francisco; Ortiz-Quintana, Luis

2015-07-01

To evaluate the reproducibility and feasibility of the new cardiovascular system sonographic evaluation algorithm for studying the extended fetal cardiovascular system, including the portal, thymic, and supra-aortic areas, in the second trimester of pregnancy (19-22 weeks). We performed a cross-sectional study of pregnant women with healthy fetuses (singleton and twin pregnancies) attending our center from March to August 2011. The extended fetal cardiovascular system was evaluated by following the new algorithm, a sequential acquisition of axial views comprising the following (caudal to cranial): I, portal sinus; II, ductus venosus; III, hepatic veins; IV, 4-chamber view; V, left ventricular outflow tract; VI, right ventricular outflow tract; VII, 3-vessel and trachea view; VIII, thy-box; and IX, subclavian arteries. Interobserver agreement on the feasibility and exploration time was estimated in a subgroup of patients. The feasibility and exploration time were determined for the main cohort. Maternal, fetal, and sonographic factors affecting both features were evaluated. Interobserver agreement was excellent for all views except view VIII; the difference in the mean exploration time between observers was 1.5 minutes (95% confidence interval, 0.7-2.1 minutes; P cardiovascular system sonographic evaluation algorithm is a reproducible and feasible approach for exploration of the extended fetal cardiovascular system in a second-trimester scan. It can be used to explore these areas in normal and abnormal conditions and provides an integrated image of extended fetal cardiovascular anatomy. © 2015 by the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine.

Ultrasound-guided diagnostic breast biopsy methodology: retrospective comparison of the 8-gauge vacuum-assisted biopsy approach versus the spring-loaded 14-gauge core biopsy approach

Science.gov (United States)

2011-01-01

Background Ultrasound-guided diagnostic breast biopsy technology represents the current standard of care for the evaluation of indeterminate and suspicious lesions seen on diagnostic breast ultrasound. Yet, there remains much debate as to which particular method of ultrasound-guided diagnostic breast biopsy provides the most accurate and optimal diagnostic information. The aim of the current study was to compare and contrast the 8-gauge vacuum-assisted biopsy approach and the spring-loaded 14-gauge core biopsy approach. Methods A retrospective analysis was done of all ultrasound-guided diagnostic breast biopsy procedures performed by either the 8-gauge vacuum-assisted biopsy approach or the spring-loaded 14-gauge core biopsy approach by a single surgeon from July 2001 through June 2009. Results Among 1443 ultrasound-guided diagnostic breast biopsy procedures performed, 724 (50.2%) were by the 8-gauge vacuum-assisted biopsy technique and 719 (49.8%) were by the spring-loaded 14-gauge core biopsy technique. The total number of false negative cases (i.e., benign findings instead of invasive breast carcinoma) was significantly greater (P = 0.008) in the spring-loaded 14-gauge core biopsy group (8/681, 1.2%) as compared to in the 8-gauge vacuum-assisted biopsy group (0/652, 0%), with an overall false negative rate of 2.1% (8/386) for the spring-loaded 14-gauge core biopsy group as compared to 0% (0/148) for the 8-gauge vacuum-assisted biopsy group. Significantly more (P guided diagnostic breast biopsy procedure. Significantly more (P guided diagnostic breast biopsy procedure. Conclusions In appropriately selected cases, the 8-gauge vacuum-assisted biopsy approach appears to be advantageous to the spring-loaded 14-gauge core biopsy approach for providing the most accurate and optimal diagnostic information. PMID:21835024

Dynamic programming in parallel boundary detection with application to ultrasound intima-media segmentation.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Yuan; Cheng, Xinyao; Xu, Xiangyang; Song, Enmin

2013-12-01

Segmentation of carotid artery intima-media in longitudinal ultrasound images for measuring its thickness to predict cardiovascular diseases can be simplified as detecting two nearly parallel boundaries within a certain distance range, when plaque with irregular shapes is not considered. In this paper, we improve the implementation of two dynamic programming (DP) based approaches to parallel boundary detection, dual dynamic programming (DDP) and piecewise linear dual dynamic programming (PL-DDP). Then, a novel DP based approach, dual line detection (DLD), which translates the original 2-D curve position to a 4-D parameter space representing two line segments in a local image segment, is proposed to solve the problem while maintaining efficiency and rotation invariance. To apply the DLD to ultrasound intima-media segmentation, it is imbedded in a framework that employs an edge map obtained from multiplication of the responses of two edge detectors with different scales and a coupled snake model that simultaneously deforms the two contours for maintaining parallelism. The experimental results on synthetic images and carotid arteries of clinical ultrasound images indicate improved performance of the proposed DLD compared to DDP and PL-DDP, with respect to accuracy and efficiency. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A first approach on fault detection and isolation for cardiovascular anomalies detection

KAUST Repository

Ledezma, Fernando

2015-07-01

In this paper, we use an extended version of the cardiovascular system\\'s state space model presented by [1] and propose a fault detection and isolation methodology to study the problem of detecting cardiovascular anomalies that can originate from variations in physiological parameters and deviations in the performance of the heart\\'s mitral and aortic valves. An observer-based approach is discussed as the basis of the method. The approach contemplates a bank of Extended Kalman Filters to achieve joint estimation of the model\\'s states and parameters and to detect malfunctions in the valves\\' performance. © 2015 American Automatic Control Council.

Cardiac Limited Ultrasound Examination Techniques to Augment the Bedside Cardiac Physical Examination.

Science.gov (United States)

Kimura, Bruce J; Shaw, David J; Amundson, Stan A; Phan, James N; Blanchard, Daniel G; DeMaria, Anthony N

2015-09-01

The current practice of physical diagnosis is dependent on physician skills and biases, inductive reasoning, and time efficiency. Although the clinical utility of echocardiography is well known, few data exist on how to integrate 2-dimensional screening "quick-look" ultrasound applications into a novel, modernized cardiac physical examination. We discuss the evidence basis behind ultrasound "signs" pertinent to the cardiovascular system and elemental in synthesis of bedside diagnoses and propose the application of a brief cardiac limited ultrasound examination based on these signs. An ultrasound-augmented cardiac physical examination can be taught in traditional medical education and has the potential to improve bedside diagnosis and patient care. © 2015 by the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine.

The Lunula: An ultrasound imaging approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Choi, Soo Jung; Shin, Myung Jin; Kim, Sung Moon; Ahn, Joong Mo

2001-01-01

The lunula is the white, half-moon-shaped area seen on some, but not all nails. Usually the lunula is the topographic marker of the distal part of the nail matrix, and known to have the ability of nail production. Ultrasonographic imaging of the lunula has not been reported before. This study was undertaken to demonstrate normal ultrasonographic features of the lunula. Ultrasonographic examination of the lunula was performed in the right thumb of 20 healthy volunteers (10M, 10F, mean age 30, range 26-36 years) with a real-time, high-resolution ultrasound unit (Sequoia 512, Acuson, Mountain view, CA, USA) with 8-15 MHz linear transducers. Gray scale color, and special Doppler imagings were performed with longitudinal scanning. The lunula was not seen inspection in three of the 20 volunteers. The mean size of the lunula in the other 17 volumteen was 3.31 ± 1.24 mm (range 2-6.2 mm). Gray scale ultrasound imaging showed the lunula; ovoid shaped hypo-echoic zone in proximal fingernail in 18 of 20 volunteers (mean size, 6.74 ± 0.98 mm, range 5-8.8 mm). In two of 20 volunteers, the lunula was indistinct on gray scale ultrasound examination. However, all lunula were identifiable on color Doppler imaging by detecting vascularity within the lunula. Spectral wave pattern of the lunula was a bi-directional pulsatile wave. Peak velocity was within 5-15 m/sec (mean 8 m/sec). The lunula is identifiable on ultrasound examination as a hyper-vascular, ovoid shaped, hypo-echoic zone in proximal fingernail. This normal structure should not be misinterpreted as an abnormal sub-ungual lesion.

Sexual counseling and cardiovascular disease: practical approaches

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elaine E Steinke

2015-02-01

Full Text Available Patients with cardiovascular disease and their partners expect health care providers to provide sexual counseling to assist them in maintaining sexual quality of life. Evidence suggests however, that there is a gap in integrating evidence into practice and that relatively few cardiac patients receive sexual counseling. This can result in negative psychological, physical, and quality of life outcomes for couples who may needlessly decide sexual activity is too risky and cease all sexual activity. Two scientific statements now exist that provide ample guidance to health care providers in discussing this important topic. Using a team approach that includes physicians, nurses, physical therapists, rehabilitation staff, and others is important to ensure that sexual counseling occurs throughout recovery. In addition, several trials using interventional approaches for sexual counseling provide insight into successful approaches for sexual counseling in practice. This article provides practical strategies and evidence-based approaches for assessment and sexual counseling for all cardiac patients and their partners, and specific counseling for those with ischemic conditions, heart failure, and implanted devices.

Steroid injection for painful shoulder: Usefulness of ultrasound-guided approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Min Hee

2004-01-01

To evaluate the efficacy of steroid injection into the subacromial bursa and biceps tendon sheath for painful shoulders and the usefulness of ultrasound-guided approach. Seventeen shoulders of twelve patients with shoulder pain and limited motion were included, and these patient were clinically diagnosed as a painful arc syndrome. Under ultrasound guidance, steroid injection was performed into the subacormial bursa (13 cases) and biceps tendon sheath (4 cases). In 7 cases, 1 mL of steroid was used while the remaining six patients received a mixture of 1 mL of steroid and 1 ml of lidocaine. Both shoulders of two patients received 0.5 mL of steroid. The location of needle and injection duration of fluid were continuously monitored, and complications such as leakage of steroid were recorded. Medical records were reviewed for the presence of pain relief and increasing range of motion following the injection. On ultrasonogram, the needle within the subacromial bursa and biceps tendon sheath was seen as a linear echogenic structure, and injected fluid was identified. There was neither the leakage of steroid injection nor any other complications. In 16 (94%) of 17 shoulders, there was decreased intensity of shoulder pain while increased range of motion was noted in three patients following the injection. Steroid injection into the subacormial bursa and biceps tendon sheath is effective in treating shoulder pain and limited range of motion of the shoulder, and ultrasound is useful guiding method.

WE-B-210-02: The Advent of Ultrafast Imaging in Biomedical Ultrasound

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tanter, M.

2015-01-01

In the last fifteen years, the introduction of plane or diverging wave transmissions rather than line by line scanning focused beams has broken the conventional barriers of ultrasound imaging. By using such large field of view transmissions, the frame rate reaches the theoretical limit of physics dictated by the ultrasound speed and an ultrasonic map can be provided typically in tens of micro-seconds (several thousands of frames per second). Interestingly, this leap in frame rate is not only a technological breakthrough but it permits the advent of completely new ultrasound imaging modes, including shear wave elastography, electromechanical wave imaging, ultrafast doppler, ultrafast contrast imaging, and even functional ultrasound imaging of brain activity (fUltrasound) introducing Ultrasound as an emerging full-fledged neuroimaging modality. At ultrafast frame rates, it becomes possible to track in real time the transient vibrations – known as shear waves – propagating through organs. Such “human body seismology” provides quantitative maps of local tissue stiffness whose added value for diagnosis has been recently demonstrated in many fields of radiology (breast, prostate and liver cancer, cardiovascular imaging, …). Today, Supersonic Imagine company is commercializing the first clinical ultrafast ultrasound scanner, Aixplorer with real time Shear Wave Elastography. This is the first example of an ultrafast Ultrasound approach surpassing the research phase and now widely spread in the clinical medical ultrasound community with an installed base of more than 1000 Aixplorer systems in 54 countries worldwide. For blood flow imaging, ultrafast Doppler permits high-precision characterization of complex vascular and cardiac flows. It also gives ultrasound the ability to detect very subtle blood flow in very small vessels. In the brain, such ultrasensitive Doppler paves the way for fUltrasound (functional ultrasound imaging) of brain activity with unprecedented

WE-B-210-02: The Advent of Ultrafast Imaging in Biomedical Ultrasound

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tanter, M. [Laboratoire Ondes et Acoustique (France)

2015-06-15

In the last fifteen years, the introduction of plane or diverging wave transmissions rather than line by line scanning focused beams has broken the conventional barriers of ultrasound imaging. By using such large field of view transmissions, the frame rate reaches the theoretical limit of physics dictated by the ultrasound speed and an ultrasonic map can be provided typically in tens of micro-seconds (several thousands of frames per second). Interestingly, this leap in frame rate is not only a technological breakthrough but it permits the advent of completely new ultrasound imaging modes, including shear wave elastography, electromechanical wave imaging, ultrafast doppler, ultrafast contrast imaging, and even functional ultrasound imaging of brain activity (fUltrasound) introducing Ultrasound as an emerging full-fledged neuroimaging modality. At ultrafast frame rates, it becomes possible to track in real time the transient vibrations – known as shear waves – propagating through organs. Such “human body seismology” provides quantitative maps of local tissue stiffness whose added value for diagnosis has been recently demonstrated in many fields of radiology (breast, prostate and liver cancer, cardiovascular imaging, …). Today, Supersonic Imagine company is commercializing the first clinical ultrafast ultrasound scanner, Aixplorer with real time Shear Wave Elastography. This is the first example of an ultrafast Ultrasound approach surpassing the research phase and now widely spread in the clinical medical ultrasound community with an installed base of more than 1000 Aixplorer systems in 54 countries worldwide. For blood flow imaging, ultrafast Doppler permits high-precision characterization of complex vascular and cardiac flows. It also gives ultrasound the ability to detect very subtle blood flow in very small vessels. In the brain, such ultrasensitive Doppler paves the way for fUltrasound (functional ultrasound imaging) of brain activity with unprecedented

In-Plane Ultrasound-Guided Knee Injection Through a Lateral Suprapatellar Approach: A Safe Technique.

Science.gov (United States)

Chagas-Neto, Francisco A; Taneja, Atul K; Gregio-Junior, Everaldo; Nogueira-Barbosa, Marcello H

2017-06-01

This study aims to describe a technique for in-plane ultrasound-guided knee arthrography through a lateral suprapatellar approach, reporting its accuracy and related complications. A retrospective search was performed for computed tomography and magnetic resonance reports from June 2013 through June 2015. Imaging studies, puncture descriptions, and guided-procedure images were reviewed along with clinical and surgical history. A fellowship-trained musculoskeletal radiologist performed all procedures under sterile technique and ultrasound guidance with the probe in oblique position on the lateral suprapatellar recess after local anesthesia with the patient on dorsal decubitus, hip in neutral rotation, and 30 to 45 degrees of knee flexion. A total of 86 consecutive subjects were evaluated (mean, 55 years). All subjects underwent intra-articular injection of contrast, which was successfully reached in the first attempt in 94.2% of the procedures (81/86), and in the second attempt in 5.8% (5/86) after needle repositioning without a second puncture. There were no postprocedural reports of regional complications at the puncture site, such as significant pain, bleeding, or vascular lesions. Our study demonstrates that in-plane ultrasound-guided injection of the knee in semiflexion approaching the lateral suprapatellar recess is a safe and useful technique to administer intra-articular contrast solution, as an alternative method without radiation exposure.

Novel approaches based on ultrasound for treatment of wastewater containing potassium ferrocyanide.

Science.gov (United States)

Jawale, Rajashree H; Tandale, Akash; Gogate, Parag R

2017-09-01

Industrial wastewaters containing biorefractory compounds like cyanide offer significant environmental problems attributed to the fact that the conventional methods have limited effectiveness and hence developing efficient treatment approaches is an important requirement. The present work investigates the use of novel treatment approach of ultrasound (US) combined with advanced oxidation techniques for the degradation of potassium ferrocyanide (KFC) for the first time. An ultrasonic bath equipped with longitudinal horn (1kW rated power and 25kHz frequency) has been used. The effect of initial pH (2-9) on the progress of degradation has been investigated initially and subsequently using the optimized pH, effect of addition of hydrogen peroxide (ratio of KFC:H 2 O 2 varied over the range of 1:0.5-1:5) and TiO 2 in the presence of H 2 O 2 (1:1 ratio by weight of TiO 2 ) as process intensifying approach has been studied. Combination of ultrasonic irradiation with ozone (O 3 ) (100-400mg/h) and ultraviolet irradiation (UV) has also been investigated. Use of combination of US with H 2 O 2, H 2 O 2 +TiO 2 and ozone resulted in extent of KFC degradation as 54.2%, 74.82% and 82.41% respectively. Combination of US with both UV and ozone was established to be the best approach yielding 92.47% degradation. The study also focused on establishing kinetic rate constants for all the treatment approaches which revealed that all the approaches followed first order kinetic mechanism with higher rate constants for the combination approaches. Overall, it has been conclusively established that ultrasound based combined treatment schemes are very effective for the treatment of KFC containing wastewaters. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Portable Ultrasound Imaging

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

di Ianni, Tommaso

This PhD project investigates hardware strategies and imaging methods for hand-held ultrasound systems. The overall idea is to use a wireless ultrasound probe linked to general-purpose mobile devices for the processing and visualization. The approach has the potential to reduce the upfront costs...... beamforming strategies are simulated from a system-level perspective. The quality of the B-mode image is evaluated and the minimum specifications are derived for the design of a portable probe with integrated electronics in-handle. The system is based on a synthetic aperture sequential beamforming approach...... that allows to significantly reduce the data rate between the probe and processing unit. The second part investigates the feasibility of vector flow imaging in a hand-held ultrasound system. Vector flow imaging overcomes the limitations of conventional imaging methods in terms of flow angle compensation...

Digital Path Approach Despeckle Filter for Ultrasound Imaging and Video

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Marek Szczepański

2017-01-01

Full Text Available We propose a novel filtering technique capable of reducing the multiplicative noise in ultrasound images that is an extension of the denoising algorithms based on the concept of digital paths. In this approach, the filter weights are calculated taking into account the similarity between pixel intensities that belongs to the local neighborhood of the processed pixel, which is called a path. The output of the filter is estimated as the weighted average of pixels connected by the paths. The way of creating paths is pivotal and determines the effectiveness and computational complexity of the proposed filtering design. Such procedure can be effective for different types of noise but fail in the presence of multiplicative noise. To increase the filtering efficiency for this type of disturbances, we introduce some improvements of the basic concept and new classes of similarity functions and finally extend our techniques to a spatiotemporal domain. The experimental results prove that the proposed algorithm provides the comparable results with the state-of-the-art techniques for multiplicative noise removal in ultrasound images and it can be applied for real-time image enhancement of video streams.

Carotid Atherosclerosis Progression and Risk of Cardiovascular Events in a Community in Taiwan.

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Chen, Pei-Chun; Jeng, Jiann-Shing; Hsu, Hsiu-Ching; Su, Ta-Chen; Chien, Kuo-Liong; Lee, Yuan-Teh

2016-05-12

The authors investigated the association between progression of carotid atherosclerosis and incidence of cardiovascular disease in a community cohort in Taiwan. Data has rarely been reported in Asian populations. Study subjects were 1,398 participants who underwent ultrasound measures of common carotid artery intima-media thickness (IMT) and extracranial carotid artery plaque score at both 1994-1995 and 1999-2000 surveys. Cox proportional hazards model was used to assess the risk of incident cardiovascular disease. During a median follow-up of 13 years (1999-2013), 71 strokes and 68 coronary events occurred. The 5-year individual IMT change was not associated with development of cardiovascular events in unadjusted and adjusted models. Among subjects without plaque in 1994-1995, we observed elevated risk associated with presence of new plaque (plaque score >0 in 1999-2000) in a dose-response manner in unadjusted and age- and sex- adjusted models. The associations attenuated and became statistically non-significant after controlling for cardiovascular risk factors (hazard ratio [95% confidence interval] for plaque score >2 vs. 0: stroke, 1.61 [0.79-3.27], coronary events, 1.13 [0.48-2.69]). This study suggested that carotid plaque formation measured by ultrasound is associated increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease, and cardiovascular risk factors explain the associations to a large extent.

The exploration of the closure of patent ductus arteriosus with Amplatzer occluder through single venous approach under ultrasound monitoring

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Luo Guoxin; He Jianxin; Li Guoying; Gong Zhihua; Wen Yanfei

2011-01-01

Objective: To explore the feasibility and effectiveness of transcatheter closure of patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) with Amplatzer occluder by using single venous approach method under ultrasound monitoring. Methods: During the period from May 2003 to April 2010, transcatheter closure of PDA were performed in 123 cases. Of the 123 patients, the procedure was accomplished by using arteriovenous dual approach method in 46 and by using single venous approach method in 77. All the procedures were monitored by ultrasound. The shape, size of PDA and immediate therapeutic results were checked with angiography in arteriovenous dual approach method or with ultrasonography in single venous approach method. The size of Amplatzer occluder was individually selected according to the smallest diameter of PDA. Echocardiography was performed at 3 days, one, 6 and 12 months after the procedure to evaluate the results. Results: Successful device placement with the initially selected occluder was obtained in 118 cases. In 4 cases the procedure was eventually completed after a bigger occluder was employed to replace the initial one, while in one case a smaller occluder had to use to replace the first one. The technical success rate was 100%. Conclusion: The transcatheter closure of PDA with Amplatzer occluder under ultrasound monitoring by single venous approach method is clinically effective and feasible. Being technically simple and time-saving, this single venous approach method is of great value in clinical practice. (authors)

Angular spectrum approach for fast simulation of pulsed non-linear ultrasound fields

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Du, Yigang; Jensen, Henrik; Jensen, Jørgen Arendt

2011-01-01

The paper presents an Angular Spectrum Approach (ASA) for simulating pulsed non-linear ultrasound fields. The source of the ASA is generated by Field II, which can simulate array transducers of any arbitrary geometry and focusing. The non-linear ultrasound simulation program - Abersim, is used...... as the reference. A linear array transducer with 64 active elements is simulated by both Field II and Abersim. The excitation is a 2-cycle sine wave with a frequency of 5 MHz. The second harmonic field in the time domain is simulated using ASA. Pulse inversion is used in the Abersim simulation to remove...... the fundamental and keep the second harmonic field, since Abersim simulates non-linear fields with all harmonic components. ASA and Abersim are compared for the pulsed fundamental and second harmonic fields in the time domain at depths of 30 mm, 40 mm (focal depth) and 60 mm. Full widths at -6 dB (FWHM) are f0...

A systematic approach to analyze the social determinants of cardiovascular disease

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Martínez-García, Mireya; Salinas-Ortega, Magaly; Estrada-Arriaga, Iván; Hernández-Lemus, Enrique; García-Herrera, Rodrigo

2018-01-01

Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of human mortality worldwide. Among the many factors associated with the etiology, incidence, and evolution of such diseases; social and environmental issues constitute an important and often overlooked component. Understanding to a greater extent the scope to which such social determinants of cardiovascular diseases (SDCVD) occur as well as the connections among them would be useful for public health policy making. Here, we will explore the historical trends and associations among the main SDCVD in the published literature. Our aim will be finding meaningful relations among those that will help us to have an integrated view on this complex phenomenon by providing historical context and a relational framework. To uncover such relations, we used a data mining approach to the current literature, followed by network analysis of the interrelationships discovered. To this end, we systematically mined the PubMed/MEDLINE database for references of published studies on the subject, as outlined by the World Health Organization’s framework on social determinants of health. The analyzed structured corpus consisted in circa 1190 articles categorized by means of the Medical Subheadings (MeSH) content-descriptor. The use of data analytics techniques allowed us to find a number of non-trivial connections among SDCVDs. Such relations may be relevant to get a deeper understanding of the social and environmental issues associated with cardiovascular disease and are often overlooked by traditional literature survey approaches, such as systematic reviews and meta-analyses. PMID:29370200

A systematic approach to analyze the social determinants of cardiovascular disease.

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Martínez-García, Mireya; Salinas-Ortega, Magaly; Estrada-Arriaga, Iván; Hernández-Lemus, Enrique; García-Herrera, Rodrigo; Vallejo, Maite

2018-01-01

Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of human mortality worldwide. Among the many factors associated with the etiology, incidence, and evolution of such diseases; social and environmental issues constitute an important and often overlooked component. Understanding to a greater extent the scope to which such social determinants of cardiovascular diseases (SDCVD) occur as well as the connections among them would be useful for public health policy making. Here, we will explore the historical trends and associations among the main SDCVD in the published literature. Our aim will be finding meaningful relations among those that will help us to have an integrated view on this complex phenomenon by providing historical context and a relational framework. To uncover such relations, we used a data mining approach to the current literature, followed by network analysis of the interrelationships discovered. To this end, we systematically mined the PubMed/MEDLINE database for references of published studies on the subject, as outlined by the World Health Organization's framework on social determinants of health. The analyzed structured corpus consisted in circa 1190 articles categorized by means of the Medical Subheadings (MeSH) content-descriptor. The use of data analytics techniques allowed us to find a number of non-trivial connections among SDCVDs. Such relations may be relevant to get a deeper understanding of the social and environmental issues associated with cardiovascular disease and are often overlooked by traditional literature survey approaches, such as systematic reviews and meta-analyses.

Survey of Network-Based Approaches to Research of Cardiovascular Diseases

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Anida Sarajlić

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs are the leading health problem worldwide. Investigating causes and mechanisms of CVDs calls for an integrative approach that would take into account its complex etiology. Biological networks generated from available data on biomolecular interactions are an excellent platform for understanding interconnectedness of all processes within a living cell, including processes that underlie diseases. Consequently, topology of biological networks has successfully been used for identifying genes, pathways, and modules that govern molecular actions underlying various complex diseases. Here, we review approaches that explore and use relationships between topological properties of biological networks and mechanisms underlying CVDs.

Prevalence of stroke/cardiovascular risk factors in Hungary

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Bodo, M.; Sipos, K.; Thuroczy, G.; Panczel, G.; Ilias, L.; Szonyi, P.; Bodo, M., Jr.; Nebella, T.; Banyasz, A.; Nagy, Z.

2010-04-01

A cross-sectional survey was conducted in Hungary using the Cerberus system which includes: 1) a questionnaire addressing the risk factors for stroke/cardiovascular disease; 2) amplifiers to record the pulse waves of cerebral arteries (rheoencephalography) and peripheral arteries, electrocardiogram and electroencephalogram. Additionally, subjects were measured for carotid stenosis by Doppler ultrasound and 12-lead electrocardiogram; subjects were also screened for blood cholesterol, glucose, and triglyceride levels. Prevalence of the following stroke risk factors was identified: overweight, 63.25%; sclerotic brain arteries (by rheoencephalogram), 54.29%; heart disease, 37.92%; pathologic carotid flow, 34.24%; smoking, 30.55%; high blood cholesterol, 28.70%; hypertension, 27.83%; high triglyceride, 24.35%; abnormality in electrocardiogram, 20%; high glucose, 15.95%; symptoms of transient ischemic attack, 16.07%; alcohol abuse, 6.74%; and diabetes, 4.53%. The study demonstrates a possible model for primary cardiovascular disease/stroke prevention. This method offers a standardizable, cost effective, practical technique for mass screenings by identifying the population at high risk for cardiovascular disturbances, especially cerebrovascular disease (primary prevention). In this model, the rheoencephalogram can detect cerebrovascular arteriosclerosis in the susceptibility/presymptomatic phase, earlier than the Doppler ultrasound technique. The method also provides a model for storing analog physiological signals in a computer-based medical record and is a first step in applying an expert system to stroke prevention.

Detection of cardiovascular anomalies: Hybrid systems approach

KAUST Repository

Ledezma, Fernando; Laleg-Kirati, Taous-Meriem

2012-01-01

In this paper, we propose a hybrid interpretation of the cardiovascular system. Based on a model proposed by Simaan et al. (2009), we study the problem of detecting cardiovascular anomalies that can be caused by variations in some physiological

Adaptive Beamforming for Medical Ultrasound Imaging

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Holfort, Iben Kraglund

This dissertation investigates the application of adaptive beamforming for medical ultrasound imaging. The investigations have been concentrated primarily on the Minimum Variance (MV) beamformer. A broadband implementation of theMV beamformer is described, and simulated data have been used...... to demonstrate the performance. The MV beamformer has been applied to different sets of ultrasound imaging sequences; synthetic aperture ultrasound imaging and plane wave ultrasound imaging. And an approach for applying MV optimized apodization weights on both the transmitting and the receiving apertures...

Pulsed ultrasound enhances the delivery of nitric oxide from bubble liposomes to ex vivo porcine carotid tissue

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Sutton JT

2014-10-01

Full Text Available JT Sutton,1 JL Raymond,1 MC Verleye,2 GJ Pyne-Geithman,3 CK Holland4 1University of Cincinnati, Biomedical Engineering Program, Cincinnati, OH, 2University of Notre Dame Department of Chemical Engineering, Notre Dame, IN, 3University of Cincinnati, College of Medicine, Department of Neurosurgery and the University of Cincinnati Neuroscience Institute, and Mayfield Clinic, Cincinnati, OH, 4University of Cincinnati, College of Medicine, Internal Medicine, Division of Cardiovascular Diseases, Cincinnati, OH, USA Abstract: Ultrasound-mediated drug delivery is a novel technique for enhancing the penetration of drugs into diseased tissue beds noninvasively. By encapsulating drugs into microsized and nanosized liposomes, the therapeutic can be shielded from degradation within the vasculature until delivery to a target site by ultrasound exposure. Traditional in vitro or ex vivo techniques to quantify this delivery profile include optical approaches, cell culture, and electrophysiology. Here, we demonstrate an approach to characterize the degree of nitric oxide (NO delivery to porcine carotid tissue by direct measurement of ex vivo vascular tone. An ex vivo perfusion model was adapted to assess ultrasound-mediated delivery of NO. This potent vasodilator was coencapsulated with inert octafluoropropane gas to produce acoustically active bubble liposomes. Porcine carotid arteries were excised post mortem and mounted in a physiologic buffer solution. Vascular tone was assessed in real time by coupling the artery to an isometric force transducer. NO-loaded bubble liposomes were infused into the lumen of the artery, which was exposed to 1 MHz pulsed ultrasound at a peak-to-peak acoustic pressure amplitude of 0.34 MPa. Acoustic cavitation emissions were monitored passively. Changes in vascular tone were measured and compared with control and sham NO bubble liposome exposures. Our results demonstrate that ultrasound-triggered NO release from bubble liposomes

Fast simulation of non-linear pulsed ultrasound fields using an angular spectrum approach

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Du, Yigang; Jensen, Jørgen Arendt

2013-01-01

A fast non-linear pulsed ultrasound field simulation is presented. It is implemented based on an angular spectrum approach (ASA), which analytically solves the non-linear wave equation. The ASA solution to the Westervelt equation is derived in detail. The calculation speed is significantly...... increased compared to a numerical solution using an operator splitting method (OSM). The ASA has been modified and extended to pulsed non-linear ultrasound fields in combination with Field II, where any array transducer with arbitrary geometry, excitation, focusing and apodization can be simulated...... with a center frequency of 5 MHz. The speed is increased approximately by a factor of 140 and the calculation time is 12 min with a standard PC, when simulating the second harmonic pulse at the focal point. For the second harmonic point spread function the full width error is 1.5% at 6 dB and 6.4% at 12 d...

Intensification of extraction of curcumin from Curcuma amada using ultrasound assisted approach: Effect of different operating parameters.

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Shirsath, S R; Sable, S S; Gaikwad, S G; Sonawane, S H; Saini, D R; Gogate, P R

2017-09-01

Curcumin, a dietary phytochemical, has been extracted from rhizomes of Curcuma amada using ultrasound assisted extraction (UAE) and the results compared with the conventional extraction approach to establish the process intensification benefits. The effect of operating parameters such as type of solvent, extraction time, extraction temperature, solid to solvent ratio, particle size and ultrasonic power on the extraction yield have been investigated in details for the approach UAE. The maximum extraction yield as 72% was obtained in 1h under optimized conditions of 35°C temperature, solid to solvent ratio of 1:25, particle size of 0.09mm, ultrasonic power of 250W and ultrasound frequency of 22kHz with ethanol as the solvent. The obtained yield was significantly higher as compared to the batch extraction where only about 62% yield was achieved in 8h of treatment. Peleg's model was used to describe the kinetics of UAE and the model showed a good agreement with the experimental results. Overall, ultrasound has been established to be a green process for extraction of curcumin with benefits of reduction in time as compared to batch extraction and the operating temperature as compared to Soxhlet extraction. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Predictive value of ovarian stroma measurement for cardiovascular risk in polycyctic ovary syndrome: a case control study

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Loverro Giuseppe

2010-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background To verify the feasibility of ovarian stromal evaluation and correlate ovarian parameteres (echogenicity and volume with hyperandrogenism, and both cardiovascular and metabolic risk factors in PCOS. Methods Twenty four young PCOS patients and twelve age-matched control women were enrolled. Diagnosis of PCOS was based on the Rotterdam criteria. Ultrasound ovarian study included ovarian volume, stromal volume, stromal area and stromal area/total ovarian area ratio (S/A. Concerning hormones, insulin, LH, FSH, estradiol, androstenedione, testosterone, DHEAS, 17-hydroxy-progesterone, and SHBG were measured during the early follicular phase (days 2-5. Cardiovascular risk factors were represented by fasting plasma levels of glucose, lipids (total and HDL-cholesterol, plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 (PAI-1, von-Willebrand factor (vWF, and adiponectin. Carotid intima-media thickness (C-IMT was measured as a parameter of cardiovascular risk. Results A positive correlation between the S/A ratio and plasma levels of testosterone (p Conclusions This study shows that the ultrasound measurement of ovarian stroma is a predicting factor of hyperandrogenism degree, prothrombotic factors and cardiovascular risk in patients with PCOS.

Medial approach of ultrasound-guided costoclavicular plexus block and its effects on regional perfussion.

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Nieuwveld, D; Mojica, V; Herrera, A E; Pomés, J; Prats, A; Sala-Blanch, X

2017-04-01

Ultrasound-guided infraclavicular block in the costoclavicular space located between the clavicle and the first rib, reaches the secondary trunks when they are clustered together and lateral to the axillary artery. This block is most often performed through a lateral approach, the difficulty being finding the coracoid process an obstacle and guiding the needle towards the vessels and pleura. A medial approach, meaning from inside to outside, will avoid these structures. Traditionally the assessment of a successful block is through motor or sensitive responses but a sympathetic fibre block can also be evaluated measuring the changes in humeral artery blood flow, skin temperature and/or perfusion index. To describe the medial approach of the ultrasound-guided costoclavicular block evaluating its development by motor and sensitive response and measurement of sympathetic changes. Description of the technique and administration of 20ml of contrast in a fresh cadaver model, evaluating the distribution with CT-scan and sagittal sections of the anatomic piece. Subsequently in a clinical phase, including 11 patients, we evaluated the establishment of motor, sensitive and sympathetic blocks. We evaluated the sympathetic changes reflected by humeral artery blood flow, skin temperature and distal perfusion index. In the anatomical model the block was conducted without difficulties, showing an adequate periclavicular distribution of the contrast in the CT-scan and in sagittal sections, reaching the interscalenic space as far as the secondary trunks. Successful blocks were observed in 91% of patients after 25minutes. All the parameters reflecting sympathetic block increased significantly. The humeral artery blood flow showed an increase from 108 ± 86 to 188±141ml/min (P=.05), skin temperature from 32.1±2 to 32.8±9°C (P=.03) and perfusion index from 4±3 to 9±5 (P=.003). The medial approach of the ultrasound-guided costoclavicular block is anatomically feasible, with high

Pharmacogenomics in cardiovascular disorders: Steps in approaching personalized medicine in cardiovascular medicine

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Christopher Barone

2009-09-01

Full Text Available Christopher Barone, Shaymaa S Mousa, Shaker A MousaThe Pharmaceutical Research Institute, Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Albany, NY, USAAbstract: Some of the most commonly prescribed medications are those for cardiovascular maladies. The beneficial effects of these medications have been well documented. However, there can be substantial variation in response to these medications among patients, which may be due to genetic variation. For this reason pharmacogenomic studies are emerging across all aspects of cardiovascular medicine. The goal of pharmacogenomics is to tailor treatment to an individual’s genetic makeup in order to improve the benefit-to-risk ratio. This review examines the potential pharmacogenomic parameters which may lead to a future of personalized medicine. For example, it has been found that patients with CYP2C9 and VKORC1 gene variations have a different response to warfarin. Other studies looking at β-blockers, ACE inhibitors, ARBs, diuretics and statins have shown some results linking genetic variations to pharmacologic response. However these studies have not impacted clinical use yet, unlike warfarin findings, as the small retrospective studies need to be followed up by larger prospective studies for definitive results.Keywords: cardiovascular, pharmacogenomics, genetics, cardiovascular medicine, personalized medicine, polymorphism

Phase structuring in metal alloys: Ultrasound-assisted top-down approach to engineering of nanostructured catalytic materials.

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Cherepanov, Pavel V; Andreeva, Daria V

2017-03-01

High intensity ultrasound (HIUS) is a novel and efficient tool for top-down nanostructuring of multi-phase metal systems. Ultrasound-assisted structuring of the phase in metal alloys relies on two main mechanisms including interfacial red/ox reactions and temperature driven solid state phase transformations which affect surface composition and morphology of metals. Physical and chemical properties of sonication medium strongly affects the structuring pathways as well as morphology and composition of catalysts. HIUS can serve as a simple, fast, and effective approach for the tuning of structure and surface properties of metal particles, opening the new perspectives in design of robust and efficient catalysts. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Pulse Compression Techniques for Laser Generated Ultrasound

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Anastasi, R. F.; Madaras, E. I.

1999-01-01

Laser generated ultrasound for nondestructive evaluation has an optical power density limit due to rapid high heating that causes material damage. This damage threshold limits the generated ultrasound amplitude, which impacts nondestructive evaluation inspection capability. To increase ultrasound signal levels and improve the ultrasound signal-to-noise ratio without exceeding laser power limitations, it is possible to use pulse compression techniques. The approach illustrated here uses a 150mW laser-diode modulated with a pseudo-random sequence and signal correlation. Results demonstrate the successful generation of ultrasonic bulk waves in aluminum and graphite-epoxy composite materials using a modulated low-power laser diode and illustrate ultrasound bandwidth control.

Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound Guided Biopsy of Undetermined Abdominal Lesions: A Multidisciplinary Decision-Making Approach

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Feng Mao

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Aim. To investigate the value of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS guided biopsy of undetermined abdominal lesions in multidisciplinary treatment (MDT decision-making approach. Methods. Between Jan 2012 and Dec 2015, 60 consecutive patients (male, 37; female, 23; mean age, 51.3 years ± 14.6 who presented with undetermined abdominal lesions were included. CEUS and core needle percutaneous biopsy was performed under real-time CEUS guidance in all lesions. Data were recorded and compared with conventional ultrasound (US guidance group (n=75. All CEUS findings and clinical data were evaluated in MDT. Results. CEUS enabled the delimitation of more (88.3% versus 41.3% and larger (14.1 ± 10.7 mm versus 32.3 ± 18.5 mm nonenhanced necrotic areas. More inner (20.0% versus 6.7% and surrounding (18.3% versus 2.7% major vessels were visualized and avoided during biopsies. CEUS-guided biopsy increased the diagnostic accuracy from 93.3% to 98.3%, with correct diagnosis in 57 of 60 lesions (95.0%. The therapeutic plan was influenced by CEUS guided biopsies findings in the majority of patients (98.3%. Conclusion. The combination of CEUS guided biopsy and MDT decision-making approach is useful in the diagnostic work-up and therapeutic management.

Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound Guided Biopsy of Undetermined Abdominal Lesions: A Multidisciplinary Decision-Making Approach.

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Mao, Feng; Dong, Yi; Ji, Zhengbiao; Cao, Jiaying; Wang, Wen-Ping

2017-01-01

Aim. To investigate the value of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) guided biopsy of undetermined abdominal lesions in multidisciplinary treatment (MDT) decision-making approach. Methods. Between Jan 2012 and Dec 2015, 60 consecutive patients (male, 37; female, 23; mean age, 51.3 years ± 14.6) who presented with undetermined abdominal lesions were included. CEUS and core needle percutaneous biopsy was performed under real-time CEUS guidance in all lesions. Data were recorded and compared with conventional ultrasound (US) guidance group ( n = 75). All CEUS findings and clinical data were evaluated in MDT. Results. CEUS enabled the delimitation of more (88.3% versus 41.3%) and larger (14.1 ± 10.7 mm versus 32.3 ± 18.5 mm) nonenhanced necrotic areas. More inner (20.0% versus 6.7%) and surrounding (18.3% versus 2.7%) major vessels were visualized and avoided during biopsies. CEUS-guided biopsy increased the diagnostic accuracy from 93.3% to 98.3%, with correct diagnosis in 57 of 60 lesions (95.0%). The therapeutic plan was influenced by CEUS guided biopsies findings in the majority of patients (98.3%). Conclusion. The combination of CEUS guided biopsy and MDT decision-making approach is useful in the diagnostic work-up and therapeutic management.

Non-invasive Estimation of Temperature during Physiotherapeutic Ultrasound Application Using the Average Gray-Level Content of B-Mode Images: A Metrological Approach.

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Alvarenga, André V; Wilkens, Volker; Georg, Olga; Costa-Félix, Rodrigo P B

2017-09-01

Healing therapies that make use of ultrasound are based on raising the temperature in biological tissue. However, it is not possible to heal impaired tissue by applying a high dose of ultrasound. The temperature of the tissue is ultimately the physical quantity that has to be assessed to minimize the risk of undesired injury. Invasive temperature measurement techniques are easy to use, despite the fact that they are detrimental to human well being. Another approach to assessing a rise in tissue temperature is to derive the material's general response to temperature variations from ultrasonic parameters. In this article, a method for evaluating temperature variations is described. The method is based on the analytical study of an ultrasonic image, in which gray-level variations are correlated to the temperature variations in a tissue-mimicking material. The physical assumption is that temperature variations induce wave propagation changes modifying the backscattered ultrasound signal, which are expressed in the ultrasonographic images. For a temperature variation of about 15°C, the expanded uncertainty for a coverage probability of 0.95 was found to be 2.5°C in the heating regime and 1.9°C in the cooling regime. It is possible to use the model proposed in this article in a straightforward manner to monitor temperature variation during a physiotherapeutic ultrasound application, provided the tissue-mimicking material approach is transferred to actual biological tissue. The novelty of such approach resides in the metrology-based investigation outlined here, as well as in its ease of reproducibility. Copyright © 2017 World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Quantitative ultrasound tissue characterization in shoulder and thigh muscles – a new approach

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, P.K.; Jensen, B.R.; Darvann, Tron Andre

2006-01-01

Background: The echogenicity patterns of ultrasound scans contain information of tissue composition in muscles. The aim was: ( 1) to develop a quantitative ultrasound image analysis to characterize tissue composition in terms of intensity and structure of the ultrasound images, and ( 2) to use th...

Implication and Approach to Incidental Findings in Live Ultrasound Models

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Shahram Lotfipour

2011-05-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Incidental findings during ultrasound examinations occur frequently with live models in training sessions. Because of the broad scope of training sessions available, the ethics and guidelines of dealing with incidental findings in live models need to be discussed. Methods: We provide a case of an endovaginal ultrasound that had significant unexpected findings. Results: This report demonstrates an important finding uncovered during an endovaginal modeling session. Conclusion: Models should be notified beforehand of the possibility of an incidental finding, informed about it, made aware of potential associated costs, referred to another physician for follow-up, and provided a copy of the scans. A secure copy of the ultrasound scan should be stored for future reference. [West J Emerg Med. 2011;12(4:472–474.

Towards predictive cardiovascular safety : a systems pharmacology approach

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Snelder, Nelleke

2014-01-01

Cardiovascular safety issues related to changes in blood pressure, arise frequently in drug development. In the thesis “Towards predictive cardiovascular safety – a systems pharmacology approach”, a system-specific model is described to quantify drug effects on the interrelationship between mean

Combined ultrasound and MR imaging to guide focused ultrasound therapies in the brain

Science.gov (United States)

Arvanitis, Costas D.; Livingstone, Margaret S.; McDannold, Nathan

2013-07-01

Several emerging therapies with potential for use in the brain, harness effects produced by acoustic cavitation—the interaction between ultrasound and microbubbles either generated during sonication or introduced into the vasculature. Systems developed for transcranial MRI-guided focused ultrasound (MRgFUS) thermal ablation can enable their clinical translation, but methods for real-time monitoring and control are currently lacking. Acoustic emissions produced during sonication can provide information about the location, strength and type of the microbubble oscillations within the ultrasound field, and they can be mapped in real-time using passive imaging approaches. Here, we tested whether such mapping can be achieved transcranially within a clinical brain MRgFUS system. We integrated an ultrasound imaging array into the hemisphere transducer of the MRgFUS device. Passive cavitation maps were obtained during sonications combined with a circulating microbubble agent at 20 targets in the cingulate cortex in three macaques. The maps were compared with MRI-evident tissue effects. The system successfully mapped microbubble activity during both stable and inertial cavitation, which was correlated with MRI-evident transient blood-brain barrier disruption and vascular damage, respectively. The location of this activity was coincident with the resulting tissue changes within the expected resolution limits of the system. While preliminary, these data clearly demonstrate, for the first time, that it is possible to construct maps of stable and inertial cavitation transcranially, in a large animal model, and under clinically relevant conditions. Further, these results suggest that this hybrid ultrasound/MRI approach can provide comprehensive guidance for targeted drug delivery via blood-brain barrier disruption and other emerging ultrasound treatments, facilitating their clinical translation. We anticipate that it will also prove to be an important research tool that will

Combined ultrasound and MR imaging to guide focused ultrasound therapies in the brain

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arvanitis, Costas D; McDannold, Nathan; Livingstone, Margaret S

2013-01-01

Several emerging therapies with potential for use in the brain, harness effects produced by acoustic cavitation—the interaction between ultrasound and microbubbles either generated during sonication or introduced into the vasculature. Systems developed for transcranial MRI-guided focused ultrasound (MRgFUS) thermal ablation can enable their clinical translation, but methods for real-time monitoring and control are currently lacking. Acoustic emissions produced during sonication can provide information about the location, strength and type of the microbubble oscillations within the ultrasound field, and they can be mapped in real-time using passive imaging approaches. Here, we tested whether such mapping can be achieved transcranially within a clinical brain MRgFUS system. We integrated an ultrasound imaging array into the hemisphere transducer of the MRgFUS device. Passive cavitation maps were obtained during sonications combined with a circulating microbubble agent at 20 targets in the cingulate cortex in three macaques. The maps were compared with MRI-evident tissue effects. The system successfully mapped microbubble activity during both stable and inertial cavitation, which was correlated with MRI-evident transient blood–brain barrier disruption and vascular damage, respectively. The location of this activity was coincident with the resulting tissue changes within the expected resolution limits of the system. While preliminary, these data clearly demonstrate, for the first time, that it is possible to construct maps of stable and inertial cavitation transcranially, in a large animal model, and under clinically relevant conditions. Further, these results suggest that this hybrid ultrasound/MRI approach can provide comprehensive guidance for targeted drug delivery via blood–brain barrier disruption and other emerging ultrasound treatments, facilitating their clinical translation. We anticipate that it will also prove to be an important research tool that

Diagnosing erectile dysfunction: the penile dynamic colour duplex ultrasound revisited.

Science.gov (United States)

Aversa, A; Bruzziches, R; Spera, G

2005-12-01

A number of disease processes of the penis including Peyronie's disease, priapism, penile fractures and tumors are clearly visualized with ultrasound. Diagnostic evaluation of erectile dysfunction (ED) by penile dynamic colour-duplex Doppler ultrasonography (D-CDDU) is actually considered a second level approach to ED patients because of the fact that intracavernous injections test IV with prostaglandin-E(1) may provide important information about the patients' erectile capacity. However, no direct vascular imaging and a high percentage of false negative diagnoses of vasculogenic ED are its major pitfalls and subsequent treatment decisions remain quite limited. The occurrence of ED and its sentinel relationship to cardiovascular disease has prompted more accurate vascular screening in all patients even in the absence of cardiovascular risk factors. The sonographic evaluation of the intima-media thickness of the carotid arteries may sometimes represent an early manifestation of diffuse atherosclerotic disease and endothelial damage. This latter finding is often the cause of failure to oral agents, i.e. phosphodiesterase inhibitors, because of inability of the dysfunctional endothelium to release nitric oxide. D-CDDU represents an accurate tool to investigate cavernous artery inflow and venous leakage when compared with more invasive diagnostic techniques i.e. selective arteriography and dynamic infusion cavernosometry along with cavernosography.

Acoustic window planning for ultrasound acquisition.

Science.gov (United States)

Göbl, Rüdiger; Virga, Salvatore; Rackerseder, Julia; Frisch, Benjamin; Navab, Nassir; Hennersperger, Christoph

2017-06-01

Autonomous robotic ultrasound has recently gained considerable interest, especially for collaborative applications. Existing methods for acquisition trajectory planning are solely based on geometrical considerations, such as the pose of the transducer with respect to the patient surface. This work aims at establishing acoustic window planning to enable autonomous ultrasound acquisitions of anatomies with restricted acoustic windows, such as the liver or the heart. We propose a fully automatic approach for the planning of acquisition trajectories, which only requires information about the target region as well as existing tomographic imaging data, such as X-ray computed tomography. The framework integrates both geometrical and physics-based constraints to estimate the best ultrasound acquisition trajectories with respect to the available acoustic windows. We evaluate the developed method using virtual planning scenarios based on real patient data as well as for real robotic ultrasound acquisitions on a tissue-mimicking phantom. The proposed method yields superior image quality in comparison with a naive planning approach, while maintaining the necessary coverage of the target. We demonstrate that by taking image formation properties into account acquisition planning methods can outperform naive plannings. Furthermore, we show the need for such planning techniques, since naive approaches are not sufficient as they do not take the expected image quality into account.

The Agreement between Auscultation and Lung Ultrasound in Hemodialysis Patients: The LUST Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Torino, Claudia; Gargani, Luna; Sicari, Rosa; Letachowicz, Krzysztof; Ekart, Robert; Fliser, Danilo; Covic, Adrian; Siamopoulos, Kostas; Stavroulopoulos, Aristeidis; Massy, Ziad A; Fiaccadori, Enrico; Caiazza, Alberto; Bachelet, Thomas; Slotki, Itzchak; Martinez-Castelao, Alberto; Coudert-Krier, Marie-Jeanne; Rossignol, Patrick; Gueler, Faikah; Hannedouche, Thierry; Panichi, Vincenzo; Wiecek, Andrzej; Pontoriero, Giuseppe; Sarafidis, Pantelis; Klinger, Marian; Hojs, Radovan; Seiler-Mussler, Sarah; Lizzi, Fabio; Siriopol, Dimitrie; Balafa, Olga; Shavit, Linda; Tripepi, Rocco; Mallamaci, Francesca; Tripepi, Giovanni; Picano, Eugenio; London, Gérard Michel; Zoccali, Carmine

2016-11-07

Accumulation of fluid in the lung is the most concerning sequela of volume expansion in patients with ESRD. Lung auscultation is recommended to detect and monitor pulmonary congestion, but its reliability in ESRD is unknown. In a subproject of the ongoing Lung Water by Ultra-Sound Guided Treatment to Prevent Death and Cardiovascular Complications in High Risk ESRD Patients with Cardiomyopathy Trial, we compared a lung ultrasound-guided ultrafiltration prescription policy versus standard care in high-risk patients on hemodialysis. The reliability of peripheral edema was tested as well. This study was on the basis of 1106 pre- and postdialysis lung ultrasound studies (in 79 patients) simultaneous with standardized lung auscultation (crackles at the lung bases) and quantification of peripheral edema. Lung congestion by crackles, edema, or a combination thereof poorly reflected the severity of congestion as detected by ultrasound B lines in various analyses, including standard regression analysis weighting for repeated measures in individual patients (shared variance of 12% and 4% for crackles and edema, respectively) and κ-statistics (κ ranging from 0.00 to 0.16). In general, auscultation had very low discriminatory power for the diagnosis of mild (area under the receiver operating curve =0.61), moderate (area under the receiver operating curve =0.65), and severe (area under the receiver operating curve =0.68) lung congestion, and the same was true for peripheral edema (receiver operating curve =0.56 or lower) and the combination of the two physical signs. Lung crackles, either alone or combined with peripheral edema, very poorly reflect interstitial lung edema in patients with ESRD. These findings reinforce the rationale underlying the Lung Water by Ultra-Sound Guided Treatment to Prevent Death and Cardiovascular Complications in High Risk ESRD Patients with Cardiomyopathy Trial, a trial adopting ultrasound B lines as an instrument to guide interventions aimed at

Comparison of the coracoid and retroclavicular approaches for ultrasound-guided infraclavicular brachial plexus block.

Science.gov (United States)

Kavrut Ozturk, Nilgun; Kavakli, Ali Sait

2017-08-01

This prospective randomized study compared the coracoid and retroclavicular approaches to ultrasound-guided infraclavicular brachial plexus block (IBPB) in terms of needle tip and shaft visibility and quality of block. We hypothesized that the retroclavicular approach would increase needle tip and shaft visibility and decrease the number of needle passes compared to the coracoid approach. A total of 100 adult patients who received IBPB block for upper limb surgery were randomized into two groups: a coracoid approach group (group C) and a retroclavicular approach group (group R). In group C, the needle was inserted 2 cm medial and 2 cm inferior to the coracoid process and directed from ventral to dorsal. In group R, the needle insertion point was posterior to the clavicle and the needle was advanced from cephalad to caudal. All ultrasound images were digitally stored for analysis. The primary aim of the present study was to compare needle tip and shaft visibility between the coracoid approach and retroclavicular approach in patients undergoing upper limb surgery. The secondary aim was to investigate differences between the two groups in the number of needle passes, sensory and motor block success rates, surgical success rate, block performance time, block performance-related pain, patient satisfaction, use of supplemental local anesthetic and analgesic, and complications. Needle tip visibility and needle shaft visibility were significantly better in group R (p = 0.040, p = 0.032, respectively). Block performance time and anesthesia-related time were significantly shorter in group R (p = 0.022, p = 0.038, respectively). Number of needle passes was significantly lower in group R (p = 0.044). Paresthesia during block performance was significantly higher in group C (p = 0.045). There were no statistically significant differences between the two groups in terms of sensory or motor block success, surgical success, block-related pain, and patient satisfaction

Carotid and femoral B-mode ultrasound intima-media thickness measurements in adult post-coarctectomy patients

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vriend, J. J. W.; de Groot, E.; Kastelein, J. J. P.; Mulder, B. J. M.

2004-01-01

Aim. Cardiovascular and cerebrovascular morbidity and mortality in adult post-coarctectomy patients is increased even after successful surgical repair of the aorta. B-mode ultrasound intima-media thickness (IMT), a validated marker for atherosclerosis and vascular disease risk, was used to measure

IgG4-related cardiovascular disease. The emerging role of cardiovascular imaging

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mavrogeni, Sophie, E-mail: soma13@otenet.gr; Markousis-Mavrogenis, George; Kolovou, Genovefa

2017-01-15

Highlights: • Assessment of serum IgG4 levels and involved organ biopsy are necessary for diagnosis of IgG4-related disease. • CV involvement may manifest as cardiac pseudotumors, inflammatory periaortitis, coronary arteritis and/or pericarditis. • Echocardiography and vascular ultrasound are the most commonly used non-invasive, non-radiating imaging techniques. • CT can assess periarteritis and coronary artery aneurysms, while 18FDG-PET shows FDG uptake at the area of the lesion. • CMR offers an integrated imaging of CV system, including assessment of disease acuity, extent of fibrosis and can guide further treatment. - Abstract: Immunoglobulin 4-related disease (IgG4-related disease) is a systemic inflammatory disease that presents with increases of serum IgG4. It may affect various systems, including the cardiovascular (CV) system. Assessment of serum IgG4 levels and involved organ biopsy are necessary for diagnosis. IgG4-related disease is characterized by fibrosclerosis, lymphocytic infiltration and presence of IgG4-positive plasma cells. The disease usually responds to treatment with corticosteroids and/or immunosuppressive medication. CV involvement may manifest as cardiac pseudotumors, inflammatory periaortitis, coronary arteritis and/or pericarditis. IgG4-related cardiovascular disorders can severely affect patient prognosis. Various imaging techniques, including echocardiography, Computed Tomography (CT), 18FDG-PET, Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance (CMR) and cardiac catheterisation, have been successfully used for early disease detection and follow-up. Echocardiography and vascular ultrasound are the most commonly used non-invasive, non-radiating imaging techniques for the evaluation of IgG4-related CV disease. Periaortitis/periarteritis can be also assessed by CT, showing a soft tissue thickening around arteries. Coronary artery aneurysms can be easily diagnosed by coronary CT. In case of active periarterial or coronary artery inflammation, 18

IgG4-related cardiovascular disease. The emerging role of cardiovascular imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mavrogeni, Sophie; Markousis-Mavrogenis, George; Kolovou, Genovefa

2017-01-01

Highlights: • Assessment of serum IgG4 levels and involved organ biopsy are necessary for diagnosis of IgG4-related disease. • CV involvement may manifest as cardiac pseudotumors, inflammatory periaortitis, coronary arteritis and/or pericarditis. • Echocardiography and vascular ultrasound are the most commonly used non-invasive, non-radiating imaging techniques. • CT can assess periarteritis and coronary artery aneurysms, while 18FDG-PET shows FDG uptake at the area of the lesion. • CMR offers an integrated imaging of CV system, including assessment of disease acuity, extent of fibrosis and can guide further treatment. - Abstract: Immunoglobulin 4-related disease (IgG4-related disease) is a systemic inflammatory disease that presents with increases of serum IgG4. It may affect various systems, including the cardiovascular (CV) system. Assessment of serum IgG4 levels and involved organ biopsy are necessary for diagnosis. IgG4-related disease is characterized by fibrosclerosis, lymphocytic infiltration and presence of IgG4-positive plasma cells. The disease usually responds to treatment with corticosteroids and/or immunosuppressive medication. CV involvement may manifest as cardiac pseudotumors, inflammatory periaortitis, coronary arteritis and/or pericarditis. IgG4-related cardiovascular disorders can severely affect patient prognosis. Various imaging techniques, including echocardiography, Computed Tomography (CT), 18FDG-PET, Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance (CMR) and cardiac catheterisation, have been successfully used for early disease detection and follow-up. Echocardiography and vascular ultrasound are the most commonly used non-invasive, non-radiating imaging techniques for the evaluation of IgG4-related CV disease. Periaortitis/periarteritis can be also assessed by CT, showing a soft tissue thickening around arteries. Coronary artery aneurysms can be easily diagnosed by coronary CT. In case of active periarterial or coronary artery inflammation, 18

Impact of Medical Therapy on Atheroma Volume Measured by Different Cardiovascular Imaging Modalities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohamad C. N. Sinno

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Atherosclerosis is a systemic disease that affects most vascular beds. The gold standard of atherosclerosis imaging has been invasive intravascular ultrasound (IVUS. Newer noninvasive imaging modalities like B-mode ultrasound, cardiac computed tomography (CT, positron emission tomography (PET, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI have been used to assess these vascular territories with high accuracy and reproducibility. These imaging modalities have lately been used for the assessment of the atherosclerotic plaque and the response of its volume to several medical therapies used in the treatment of patients with cardiovascular disease. To study the impact of these medications on atheroma volume progression or regression, imaging modalities have been used on a serial basis providing a unique opportunity to monitor the effect these antiatherosclerotic strategies exert on plaque burden. As a result, studies incorporating serial IVUS imaging, quantitative coronary angiography (QCA, B-mode ultrasound, electron beam computed tomography (EBCT, and dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging have all been used to evaluate the impact of therapeutic strategies that modify cholesterol and blood pressure on the progression/regression of atherosclerotic plaque. In this review, we intend to summarize the impact of different therapies aimed at halting the progression or even result in regression of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease evaluated by different imaging modalities.

Experimental and numerical investigation of wire waveguides for therapeutic ultrasound angioplasty

OpenAIRE

Noone, Declan J.

2008-01-01

Therapeutic ultrasound angioplasty is an emerging minimally invasive cardiovascular procedure for disrupting atherosclerotic lesions using small diameter wire waveguides. The lesions are damaged through a combination of direct ablation, pressure waves, cavitation and acoustic streaming caused by distal-tip displacements at ultrasonic frequencies. Numerical and experimental methods are used to investigate the outputs of the wire waveguides during ultrasonic activation. A commercially avail...

Quantitative Analysis of Patellar Tendon Abnormality in Asymptomatic Professional “Pallapugno” Players: A Texture-Based Ultrasound Approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kristen M. Meiburger

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Abnormalities in B-mode ultrasound images of the patellar tendon often take place in asymptomatic athletes but it is still not clear if these modifications forego or can predict the development of tendinopathy. Subclinical tendinopathy can be arbitrarily defined as either (1 the presence of light structural changes in B-mode ultrasound images in association with mild neovascularization (determined with Power Doppler images or (2 the presence of moderate/severe structural changes with or without neovascularization. Up to now, the structural changes and neovascularization of the tendon are evaluated qualitatively by visual inspection of ultrasound images. The aim of this study is to investigate the capability of a quantitative texture-based approach to determine tendon abnormality of “pallapugno” players. B-mode ultrasound images of the patellar tendon were acquired in 14 players and quantitative texture parameters were calculated within a Region of Interest (ROI of both the non-dominant and the dominant tendon. A total of 90 features were calculated for each ROI, including 6 first-order descriptors, 24 Haralick features, and 60 higher-order spectra and entropy features. These features on the dominant and non-dominant side were used to perform a multivariate linear regression analysis (MANOVA and our results show that the descriptors can be effectively used to determine tendon abnormality and, more importantly, the occurrence of subclinical tendinopathy.

An integrated approach to preventing cardiovascular disease: community-based approaches, health system initiatives, and public health policy.

Science.gov (United States)

Karwalajtys, Tina; Kaczorowski, Janusz

2010-01-01

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is largely the product of interactions among modifiable risk factors that are common in developed nations and increasingly of concern in developing countries. Hypertension is an important precursor to the development of CVD, and although detection and treatment rates have improved in recent years in some jurisdictions, effective strategies and policies supporting a shift in distribution of risk factors at the population level remain paramount. Challenges in managing cardiovascular health more effectively include factors at the patient, provider, and system level. Strategies to reduce hypertension and CVD should be population based, incorporate multilevel, multicomponent, and socioenvironmental approaches, and integrate community resources with public health and clinical care. There is an urgent need to improve monitoring and management of risk factors through community-wide, primary care-linked initiatives, increase the evidence base for community-based prevention strategies, further develop and evaluate promising program components, and develop new approaches to support healthy lifestyle behaviors in diverse age, socioeconomic, and ethnocultural groups. Policy and system changes are critical to reduce risk in populations, including legislation and public education to reduce dietary sodium and trans-fatty acids, food pricing policies, and changes to health care delivery systems to explicitly support prevention and management of CVD.

Airborne ultrasound surface motion camera: Application to seismocardiography

Science.gov (United States)

Shirkovskiy, P.; Laurin, A.; Jeger-Madiot, N.; Chapelle, D.; Fink, M.; Ing, R. K.

2018-05-01

The recent achievements in the accelerometer-based seismocardiography field indicate a strong potential for this technique to address a wide variety of clinical needs. Recordings from different locations on the chest can give a more comprehensive observation and interpretation of wave propagation phenomena than a single-point recording, can validate existing modeling assumptions (such as the representation of the sternum as a single solid body), and provide better identifiability for models using richer recordings. Ultimately, the goal is to advance our physiological understanding of the processes to provide useful data to promote cardiovascular health. Accelerometer-based multichannel system is a contact method and laborious for use in practice, and also even ultralight accelerometers can cause non-negligible loading effects. We propose a contactless ultrasound imaging method to measure thoracic and abdominal surface motions, demonstrating that it is adequate for typical seismocardiogram (SCG) use. The developed method extends non-contact surface-vibrometry to fast 2D mapping by originally combining multi-element airborne ultrasound arrays, a synthetic aperture implementation, and pulsed-waves. Experimental results show the ability of the developed method to obtain 2D seismocardiographic maps of the body surface 30 × 40 cm2 in dimension, with a temporal sampling rate of several hundred Hz, using ultrasound waves with the central frequency of 40 kHz. Our implementation was validated in-vivo on eight healthy human participants. The shape and position of the zone of maximal absolute acceleration and velocity during the cardiac cycle were also observed. This technology could potentially be used to obtain more complete cardio-vascular information than single-source SCG in and out of clinical environments, due to enhanced identifiability provided by the distributed measurements, and observation of propagation phenomena.

Interference-free ultrasound imaging during HIFU therapy, using software tools

Science.gov (United States)

Vaezy, Shahram (Inventor); Held, Robert (Inventor); Sikdar, Siddhartha (Inventor); Managuli, Ravi (Inventor); Zderic, Vesna (Inventor)

2010-01-01

Disclosed herein is a method for obtaining a composite interference-free ultrasound image when non-imaging ultrasound waves would otherwise interfere with ultrasound imaging. A conventional ultrasound imaging system is used to collect frames of ultrasound image data in the presence of non-imaging ultrasound waves, such as high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU). The frames are directed to a processor that analyzes the frames to identify portions of the frame that are interference-free. Interference-free portions of a plurality of different ultrasound image frames are combined to generate a single composite interference-free ultrasound image that is displayed to a user. In this approach, a frequency of the non-imaging ultrasound waves is offset relative to a frequency of the ultrasound imaging waves, such that the interference introduced by the non-imaging ultrasound waves appears in a different portion of the frames.

Evaluating the functional outcomes of ultrasound-guided botulinum toxin type A injections using the Euro-musculus approach for upper limb spasticity treatment in post-stroke patients; an observational study.

Science.gov (United States)

Buyukavci, Raikan; Akturk, Semra; Ersoy, Yüksel

2018-02-07

Ultrasound-guided botulinum toxin type A injection is an effective treatment for spasticity. Euro-musculus spasticity approach is a new method for administering injections to the correct point of the correct muscle. The clinical outcomes of this practical approach is not yet available in the literature. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects on spasticity and the functional outcomes of ultrasound guided botulinum toxin type A injections via the Euro-musculus spasticity approach to treat upper limb spasticity in post-stroke patients. An observational study. Inpatient post-stroke patients. Twenty five post-stroke patients with post-stroke upper limb spasticity were recruited. The ultrasound-guided botulinum toxin type A injections were administered into the spastic target muscles using the Euro-musculus spasticity approach, and all of the patients were enrolled in rehabilitation programmes after the injections. This research included the innervation zone and injection site figures and ultrasound images of each muscle in the upper limb. The degree of spasticity was assessed via the Modified Ashworth Scale and the upper limb motor function via the Fugl Meyer Upper Extremity Scale at the baseline and 4 and 12 weeks after the botulinum toxin type A injection. Significant decreases in the Modified Ashworth Scale scores of the upper limb flexor muscle tone measured 4 and 12 weeks after the botulinum toxin type A injection were found when compared to the baseline scores (pbotulinum toxin type A injection via the Euro- musculus spasticity approach is a practical and effective method for administering injections to the correct point of the correct muscle. Ultrasound-guided botulinum toxin type A injections combined with rehabilitation programmes decrease spasticity and improve the upper extremity motor functions in stroke patients. This new approach for ultrasound- guided botulinum toxin type A injection is very practical and effective method for upper

[Ultrasound of spleen and retroperitoneum].

Science.gov (United States)

Salcedo Joven, I; Segura-Grau, A; Díaz Rodríguez, N; Segura-Cabral, J M

2016-09-01

Ultrasound provides data of extremely great value when studying spleen pathology, being diagnostic in splenomegaly and splenic trauma, as well as offering a good approach to the diagnosis of both benign and malignant focal pathology, particularly lymphoma. However, for the evaluation of adrenal and retroperitoneal diseases, other techniques such as CT or MRI are more suitable, even though ultrasound is still an excellent screening and monitoring method, as well as being useful in non-invasive therapeutic approaches. Copyright © 2014 Sociedad Española de Médicos de Atención Primaria (SEMERGEN). Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

The utilization of an ultrasound-guided 8-gauge vacuum-assisted breast biopsy system as an innovative approach to accomplishing complete eradication of multiple bilateral breast fibroadenomas

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Povoski Stephen P

2007-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Ultrasound-guided vacuum-assisted breast biopsy technology is extremely useful for diagnostic biopsy of suspicious breast lesions and for attempted complete excision of appropriately selected presumed benign breast lesions. Case presentation A female patient presented with 16 breast lesions (eight within each breast, documented on ultrasound and all presumed to be fibroadenomas. Over a ten and one-half month period of time, 14 of these 16 breast lesions were removed under ultrasound guidance during a total of 11 separate 8-gauge Mammotome® excision procedures performed during seven separate sessions. Additionally, two of these 16 breast lesions were removed by open surgical excision. A histopathologic diagnosis of fibroadenoma and/or fibroadenomatous changes was confirmed at all lesion excision sites. Interval follow-up ultrasound imaging revealed no evidence of a residual lesion at the site of any of the 16 original breast lesions. Conclusion This report describes an innovative approach of utilizing ultrasound-guided 8-gauge vacuum-assisted breast biopsy technology for assisting in achieving complete eradication of multiple bilateral fibroadenomas in a patient who presented with 16 documented breast lesions. As such, this innovative approach is highly recommended in similar appropriately selected patients.

A Novel Segmentation Approach Combining Region- and Edge-Based Information for Ultrasound Images

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yaozhong Luo

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Ultrasound imaging has become one of the most popular medical imaging modalities with numerous diagnostic applications. However, ultrasound (US image segmentation, which is the essential process for further analysis, is a challenging task due to the poor image quality. In this paper, we propose a new segmentation scheme to combine both region- and edge-based information into the robust graph-based (RGB segmentation method. The only interaction required is to select two diagonal points to determine a region of interest (ROI on the original image. The ROI image is smoothed by a bilateral filter and then contrast-enhanced by histogram equalization. Then, the enhanced image is filtered by pyramid mean shift to improve homogeneity. With the optimization of particle swarm optimization (PSO algorithm, the RGB segmentation method is performed to segment the filtered image. The segmentation results of our method have been compared with the corresponding results obtained by three existing approaches, and four metrics have been used to measure the segmentation performance. The experimental results show that the method achieves the best overall performance and gets the lowest ARE (10.77%, the second highest TPVF (85.34%, and the second lowest FPVF (4.48%.

Ultrasound pregnancy

Science.gov (United States)

Pregnancy sonogram; Obstetric ultrasonography; Obstetric sonogram; Ultrasound - pregnancy; IUGR - ultrasound; Intrauterine growth - ultrasound; Polyhydramnios - ultrasound; Oligohydramnios - ultrasound; ...

Monitoring cerebral hemodynamics with transcranial Doppler ultrasound during cognitive and exercise testing in adults following unilateral stroke.

Science.gov (United States)

Watt, Brian P; Burnfield, Judith M; Truemper, Edward J; Buster, Thad W; Bashford, Gregory R

2012-01-01

An observational study was performed as a preliminary investigation into the use of transcranial Doppler ultrasound (TCD) for recording cerebral hemodynamic changes during multiple tasks. TCD is a method of measuring cerebral blood flow (CBF) using ultrasound transducers in contact with the surface of the head. Using the maximum flow envelope of the Doppler spectrum returning from the middle cerebral artery (MCA), standard clinical flow indices can be calculated and displayed in real time providing information concerning perturbations in CBF and their potential cause. These indices as well as flow velocity measurements have been recognized as useful in measuring changes in responses to various stimulus that can be used to indicate cardiovascular health. For this study, the pulsatility index (PI) and resistivity index (RI) were chosen since they indicate composite changes indicative of vasoconstriction and vasodilatation which are normal hemodynamic responses under appropriate conditions. A total of eleven participants were recruited to take part in this study. Nine of these individuals had no known disability (Controls); two had experienced unilateral cerebrovascular accidents (Strokes) in the ipsilateral MCA distribution. Maximum velocity envelopes of the spectral Doppler data were recorded using a fixation device designed to stabilize two ultrasound probes (2 MHz) to sample the bilateral MCAs CBF. These measures were performed separately while the subject performed four activities: 1) rest, 2) cognitive challenge, 3) cardiovascular exercise, and 4) simultaneous exercise and cognitive challenge. Cardiovascular parameters were calculated from the data by extracting maximum (Vs) and minimum flow velocities (Vd), PI, RI, and time signatures for each cardiac cycle. The data for all participants shows significant changes in cardiovascular parameters between states of rest and exercise, as well as slight trends across time. Although the data are preliminary, they show

Intraoperative Ultrasound for Peripheral Nerve Applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Willsey, Matthew; Wilson, Thomas J; Henning, Phillip Troy; Yang, Lynda J-S

2017-10-01

Offering real-time, high-resolution images via intraoperative ultrasound is advantageous for a variety of peripheral nerve applications. To highlight the advantages of ultrasound, its extraoperative uses are reviewed. The current intraoperative uses, including nerve localization, real-time evaluation of peripheral nerve tumors, and implantation of leads for peripheral nerve stimulation, are reviewed. Although intraoperative peripheral nerve localization has been performed previously using guide wires and surgical dyes, the authors' approach using ultrasound-guided instrument clamps helps guide surgical dissection to the target nerve, which could lead to more timely operations and shorter incisions. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The OMERACT Ultrasound Group

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Terslev, Lene; Iagnocco, Annamaria; Bruyn, George A W

2017-01-01

OBJECTIVE: To provide an update from the Outcome Measures in Rheumatology (OMERACT) Ultrasound Working Group on the progress for defining ultrasound (US) minimal disease activity threshold at joint level in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and for standardization of US application in juvenile idiopathic......) and power Doppler (PD). Synovial effusion (SE) was scored a binary variable. For JIA, a Delphi approach and subsequent validation in static images and patient-based exercises were used to developed preliminary definitions for synovitis and a scoring system. RESULTS: For minimal disease activity, 7% HC had...

Ethical analysis of non-medical fetal ultrasound.

Science.gov (United States)

Leung, John Lai Yin; Pang, Samantha Mei Che

2009-09-01

Obstetric ultrasound is the well-recognized prenatal test used to visualize and determine the condition of a pregnant woman and her fetus. Apart from the clinical application, some businesses have started promoting the use of fetal ultrasound machines for nonmedical reasons. Non-medical fetal ultrasound (also known as 'keepsake' ultrasound) is defined as using ultrasound to view, take a picture, or determine the sex of a fetus without a medical indication. Notwithstanding the guidelines and warnings regarding ultrasound safety issued by governments and professional bodies, the absence of scientifically proven physical harm to fetuses from this procedure seems to provide these businesses with grounds for rapid expansion. However, this argument is too simplistic because current epidemiological evidence is not synchronous with advancing ultrasound technology. As non-medical fetal ultrasound has aroused very significant public attention, a thorough ethical analysis of this topic is essential. Using a multifaceted approach, we analyse the ethical perspective of non-medical fetal ultrasound in terms of the expectant mother, the fetus and health professionals. After applying four major theories of ethics and principles (the precautionary principle; theories of consequentialism and impartiality; duty-based theory; and rights-based theories), we conclude that obstetric ultrasound practice is ethically justifiable only if the indication for its use is based on medical evidence. Non-medical fetal ultrasound can be considered ethically unjustifiable. Nevertheless, the ethical analysis of this issue is time dependent owing to rapid advancements in ultrasound technology and the safety issue. The role of health professionals in ensuring that obstetric ultrasound is an ethically justifiable practice is also discussed.

Guiding tissue regeneration with ultrasound in vitro and in vivo

Science.gov (United States)

Dalecki, Diane; Comeau, Eric S.; Raeman, Carol H.; Child, Sally Z.; Hobbs, Laura; Hocking, Denise C.

2015-05-01

Developing new technologies that enable the repair or replacement of injured or diseased tissues is a major focus of regenerative medicine. This paper will discuss three ultrasound technologies under development in our laboratories to guide tissue regeneration both in vitro and in vivo. A critical obstacle in tissue engineering is the need for rapid and effective tissue vascularization strategies. To address this challenge, we are developing acoustic patterning techniques for microvascular tissue engineering. Acoustic radiation forces associated with ultrasound standing wave fields provide a rapid, non-invasive approach to spatially pattern cells in three dimensions without affecting cell viability. Acoustic patterning of endothelial cells leads to the rapid formation of microvascular networks throughout the volumes of three-dimensional hydrogels, and the morphology of the resultant microvessel networks can be controlled by design of the ultrasound field. A second technology under development uses ultrasound to noninvasively control the microstructure of collagen fibers within engineered tissues. The microstructure of extracellular matrix proteins provides signals that direct cell functions critical to tissue regeneration. Thus, controlling collagen microfiber structure with ultrasound provides a noninvasive approach to regulate the mechanical properties of biomaterials and control cellular responses. The third technology employs therapeutic ultrasound to enhance the healing of chronic wounds. Recent studies demonstrate increased granulation tissue thickness and collagen deposition in murine dermal wounds exposed to pulsed ultrasound. In summary, ultrasound technologies offer noninvasive approaches to control cell behaviors and extracellular matrix organization and thus hold great promise to advance tissue regeneration in vitro and in vivo.

Heat transfer enhancement using 2MHz ultrasound.

Science.gov (United States)

Bulliard-Sauret, Odin; Ferrouillat, Sebastien; Vignal, Laure; Memponteil, Alain; Gondrexon, Nicolas

2017-11-01

The present work focuses on possible heat transfer enhancement from a heating plate towards tap water in forced convection by means of 2MHz ultrasound. The thermal approach allows to observe the increase of local convective heat transfer coefficients in the presence of ultrasound and to deduce a correlation between ultrasound power and Nusselt number. Heat transfer coefficient under ultrasound remains constant while heat transfer coefficient under silent conditions increases with Reynolds number from 900 up to 5000. Therefore, heat transfer enhancement factor ranges from 25% up to 90% for the same energy conditions (supplied ultrasonic power=110W and supplied thermal power=450W). In the same time cavitational activity due to 2MHz ultrasound emission was characterized from mechanical and chemical viewpoints without significant results. At least, Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) measurements have been performed in order to investigate hydrodynamic modifications due to the presence of 2MHz ultrasound. It was therefore possible to propose a better understanding of heat transfer enhancement mechanism with high frequency ultrasound. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Comparison of extent of sensory block following posterior and subcostal approaches to ultrasound-guided transversus abdominis plane block.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, T H W; Barrington, M J; Tran, T M N; Wong, D; Hebbard, P D

2010-05-01

Transversus abdominis plane block provides postoperative analgesia following abdominal surgery by targeting thoracolumbar nerves between the internal oblique and transversus abdominis muscles. Posterior and subcostal approaches using ultrasound guidance have been described. However there have been inconsistent results in relation to the extent of the sensory block. This observational study evaluated the distributions of sensory block following either a posterior or subcostal approach and the quality of analgesia achieved. Following ethics committee approval, 50 patients undergoing minimally invasive and major abdominal surgery were recruited. A total of 81 transversus abdominis plane blocks were performed preoperatively under real-time ultrasound guidance. Postoperatively, patients received multimodal analgesia including morphine via patient-controlled pumps. Ninety-eight percent of patients had some degree of demonstrable sensory block and the dermatomal spread differed between posterior and subcostal approaches (P interquartile range 2 to 4), the most cephalad being T10 (interquartile range T9 to T10), while the subcostal approach blocked a median of four segments (interquartile range 3 to 5), the most cephalad being T8 (interquartile range T7 to T9, P interquartile range 17 to 50 mg) at 24 hours. Median pain scores at rest and with coughing were 20 (interquartile range 10 to 35) and 50 (interquartile range 29 to 67) respectively at 24 hours. The posterior approach appears to be more appropriate for lower abdominal surgery and the subcostal approach better suited to upper abdominal surgery. Whichever approach is used, transversus abdominis plane block is only one component of a multimodal analgesic technique.

Systems biology approaches to the study of cardiovascular drugs

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nikolsky, Y.; Kleemann, R.

2010-01-01

Atherogenic lipids and chronic inflammation drive the development of cardiovascular disorders such as atherosclerosis. Many cardiovascular drugs target the liver which is involved in the formation of lipid and inflammatory risk factors. With robust systems biology tools and comprehensive

Estimation of prenatal aorta intima-media thickness from ultrasound examination

Science.gov (United States)

Veronese, E.; Tarroni, G.; Visentin, S.; Cosmi, E.; Linguraru, M. G.; Grisan, E.

2014-10-01

Prenatal events such as intrauterine growth restriction and increased cardiovascular risk in later life have been shown to be associated with an increased intima-media thickness (aIMT) of the abdominal aorta in the fetus. In order to assess and manage atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease risk in adults and children, in recent years the measurement of abdominal and carotid artery thickness has gained a growing appeal. Nevertheless, no computer aided method has been proposed for the analysis of prenatal vessels from ultrasound data, yet. To date, these measurements are being performed manually on ultrasound fetal images by skilled practitioners. The aim of the presented study is to introduce an automatic algorithm that identifies abdominal aorta and estimates its diameter and aIMT from routine third trimester ultrasonographic fetal data. The algorithm locates the aorta, then segments it and, by modeling the arterial wall longitudinal sections by means of a gaussian mixture, derives a set of measures of the aorta diameter (aDiam) and of the intima-media thickness (aIMT). After estimating the cardiac cycle, the mean diameter and the aIMT at the end-diastole phase are computed. Considering the aIMT value for each subject, the correlation between automatic and manual end-diastolic aIMT measurements is 0.91 in a range of values 0.44-1.10 mm, corresponding to both normal and pathological conditions. The automatic system yields a mean relative error of 19%, that is similar to the intra-observer variability (14%) and much lower that the inter-observer variability (42%). The correlation between manual and automatic measurements and the small error confirm the ability of the proposed system to reliably estimate aIMT values in prenatal ultrasound sequences, reducing measurement variability and suggesting that it can be used for an automatic assessment of aIMT. Preliminary results have been presented in E Veronese, E Cosmi, S Visentin, E Grisan: 'Semiautomatic estimation

Ultrasound guidance for internal jugular vein cannulation: Continuing Professional Development.

Science.gov (United States)

Ayoub, Christian; Lavallée, Catherine; Denault, André

2010-05-01

The objective of this continuing professional development module is to describe the role of ultrasound for central venous catheterization and to specify its benefits and limitations. Although ultrasound techniques are useful for all central venous access sites, the focus of this module is on the internal jugular vein approach. In recent years, several studies were published on the benefits of ultrasound use for central venous catheterization. This technique has evolved rapidly due to improvements in the equipment and technology available. Ultrasound helps to detect the anatomical variants of the internal jugular vein. The typical anterolateral position of the internal jugular vein with respect to the carotid is found in only 9-92% of cases. Ultrasound guidance reduces the rate of mechanical, infectious, and thrombotic complications by 57%, and it also reduces the failure rate by 86%. Cost-benefit analyses show that the cost of ultrasound equipment is compensated by the decrease in the expenses associated with the treatment of complications. In this article, we will review the history of ultrasound guidance as well as the reasons that account for its superiority over the classical anatomical landmark technique. We will describe the equipment needed for central venous catheterization as well as the various methods to visualize with ultrasound. To improve patient safety, we recommend the use of ultrasound for central venous catheterization using the internal jugular approach.

Improving advanced cardiovascular life support skills in medical students: simulation-based education approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hamidreza Reihani

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Objective: In this trial, we intend to assess the effect of simulation-based education approach on advanced cardiovascular life support skills among medical students. Methods: Through convenient sampling method, 40 interns of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences in their emergency medicine rotation (from September to December 2012 participated in this study. Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS workshops with pretest and post-test exams were performed. Workshops and checklists for pretest and post-test exams were designed according to the latest American Heart Association (AHA guidelines. Results: The total score of the students increased significantly after workshops (24.6 out of 100 to 78.6 out of 100. This demonstrates 53.9% improvement in the skills after the simulation-based education (P< 0.001. Also the mean score of each station had a significant improvement (P< 0.001. Conclusion: Pretests showed that interns had poor performance in practical clinical matters while their scientific knowledge, such as ECG interpretation was acceptable. The overall results of the study highlights that Simulation based-education approach is highly effective in Improving ACLS skills among medical students.

Quantitative ultrasound tissue characterization in shoulder and thigh muscles – a new approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jørgensen Kurt

2006-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The echogenicity patterns of ultrasound scans contain information of tissue composition in muscles. The aim was: (1 to develop a quantitative ultrasound image analysis to characterize tissue composition in terms of intensity and structure of the ultrasound images, and (2 to use the method for characterization of ultrasound images of the supraspinatus muscle, and the vastus lateralis muscle. Methods Computerized texture analyses employing first-order and higher-order grey-scale statistics were developed to objectively characterize ultrasound images of m. supraspinatus and m. vastus lateralis from 9 healthy participants. Results The mean grey-scale intensity was higher in the vastus lateralis muscle (p -2 and for m. supraspinatus: 0.016 mm-2. Conclusion The higher intensity and the higher number of blobs in the vastus lateralis muscle indicates that the thigh muscle contained more non-contractile components than the supraspinatus muscle, and that the muscle was coarser. The image analyses supplemented each other and gave a more complete description of the tissue composition in the muscle than the mean grey-scale value alone.

New approaches to the implementation of cardiovascular disease prevention

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jørstad, H.T.

2016-01-01

Cardiovascular disease is one of the biggest contemporary health problems worldwide. To aid preventive measures, risk calculators have been developed to estimate the risk of dying of cardiovascular disease within 10 years, for use in healthy individuals. Decisions to initiate preventive measures are

Fusion of fuzzy statistical distributions for classification of thyroid ultrasound patterns.

Science.gov (United States)

Iakovidis, Dimitris K; Keramidas, Eystratios G; Maroulis, Dimitris

2010-09-01

This paper proposes a novel approach for thyroid ultrasound pattern representation. Considering that texture and echogenicity are correlated with thyroid malignancy, the proposed approach encodes these sonographic features via a noise-resistant representation. This representation is suitable for the discrimination of nodules of high malignancy risk from normal thyroid parenchyma. The material used in this study includes a total of 250 thyroid ultrasound patterns obtained from 75 patients in Greece. The patterns are represented by fused vectors of fuzzy features. Ultrasound texture is represented by fuzzy local binary patterns, whereas echogenicity is represented by fuzzy intensity histograms. The encoded thyroid ultrasound patterns are discriminated by support vector classifiers. The proposed approach was comprehensively evaluated using receiver operating characteristics (ROCs). The results show that the proposed fusion scheme outperforms previous thyroid ultrasound pattern representation methods proposed in the literature. The best classification accuracy was obtained with a polynomial kernel support vector machine, and reached 97.5% as estimated by the area under the ROC curve. The fusion of fuzzy local binary patterns and fuzzy grey-level histogram features is more effective than the state of the art approaches for the representation of thyroid ultrasound patterns and can be effectively utilized for the detection of nodules of high malignancy risk in the context of an intelligent medical system. Copyright (c) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The Sherlock Holmes approach to diagnosing fetal syndromes by ultrasound.

Science.gov (United States)

Benacerraf, Beryl B

2012-03-01

Prenatal detection of fetal anomalies is one of the major goals of obstetrical ultrasound. The primary reason is the options that are often offered to the family and caregivers from therapy in selected cases to special care at delivery to termination of the pregnancy. An important aspect of the diagnosis is to determine whether the anomaly is expected to be lethal or associated with severe physical or mental impediments. This goal is often difficult to accomplish without a clear diagnosis. A systematic approach is essential when an abnormality is first identified sonographically to help the practitioner discover certain patterns of associated defects. The use of this logical and stepwise strategy facilitates arriving at the correct diagnosis of specific syndrome by taking all anatomic findings into account. This process focuses on first pinpointing a key or sentinel feature specific to each syndrome and which can anchor the diagnosis.

Educational inequality in cardiovascular diseases: a sibling approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Søndergaard, Grethe; Dalton, Susanne Oksbjerg; Mortensen, Laust Hvas; Osler, Merete

2018-02-01

Educational inequality in diseases in the circulatory system (here termed cardiovascular disease) is well documented but may be confounded by early life factors. The aim of this observational study was to examine whether the associations between education and all cardiovascular diseases, ischaemic heart disease and stroke, respectively, were explained by family factors shared by siblings. The study population included all individuals born in Denmark between 1950 and 1979 who had at least one full sibling born in the same period. Using Cox regression, data were analysed in conventional cohort and within-sibship analyses in which the association was examined within siblings discordant on education. Assuming that attenuation of associations in the within-sibship as compared with the cohort analyses would indicate confounding from factors shared within families. A lower educational status was associated with a higher risk of cardiovascular disease, ischaemic heart disease and stroke. All associations attenuated in the within-sibship analyses, in particular in the analyses on ischaemic heart disease before age 45 years. For instance, in the cohort analyses, the hazard rate of ischaemic heart disease among women less than 45 years who had a primary school education was 94% (hazard ratio 1.94 (1.78-2.12) higher than among those with a vocational education, while it attenuated to 51% (hazard ratio 1.51 (1.34-1.71)) in the within-sibship analysis. Confounding from factors shared by siblings explained the associations between education and the cardiovascular disease outcomes but to varying degrees. This should be taken into account when planning interventions aimed at reducing educational inequalities in the development of cardiovascular disease, ischaemic heart disease and stroke.

Cardiovascular health promotion in aging women: validating a population health approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Sawatzky, Jo-Ann V; Naimark, Barbara J

2005-01-01

Although cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in North American women, most cardiovascular research has focused on men. In addition, while there has been a recent trend toward population health promotion (PHP) and a consequent focus on the broad determinants of health, there is still a dearth of research evidence related to the promotion of cardiovascular health within this context. The purpose of this study was to explore and describe the interrelationships between the determinants of health and individual cardiovascular health/risk behaviors in healthy women, within the context of a framework for PHP. A comprehensive inventory of factors affecting the cardiovascular health of women was operationalized in a survey questionnaire, the Cardiovascular Health Promotion Profile. Physical measures were also taken on each participant (n = 206). The multivariate analyses support significant interrelationships between the population health determinants and multiple individual cardiovascular health/risk behaviors in this cohort (p PHP framework, is central to building on the body of knowledge in this area.

Rotational multispectral fluorescence lifetime imaging and intravascular ultrasound: bimodal system for intravascular applications

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Dinglong; Bec, Julien; Yankelevich, Diego R.; Gorpas, Dimitris; Fatakdawala, Hussain; Marcu, Laura

2014-01-01

Abstract. We report the development and validation of a hybrid intravascular diagnostic system combining multispectral fluorescence lifetime imaging (FLIm) and intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) for cardiovascular imaging applications. A prototype FLIm system based on fluorescence pulse sampling technique providing information on artery biochemical composition was integrated with a commercial IVUS system providing information on artery morphology. A customized 3-Fr bimodal catheter combining a rotational side-view fiberoptic and a 40-MHz IVUS transducer was constructed for sequential helical scanning (rotation and pullback) of tubular structures. Validation of this bimodal approach was conducted in pig heart coronary arteries. Spatial resolution, fluorescence detection efficiency, pulse broadening effect, and lifetime measurement variability of the FLIm system were systematically evaluated. Current results show that this system is capable of temporarily resolving the fluorescence emission simultaneously in multiple spectral channels in a single pullback sequence. Accurate measurements of fluorescence decay characteristics from arterial segments can be obtained rapidly (e.g., 20 mm in 5 s), and accurate co-registration of fluorescence and ultrasound features can be achieved. The current finding demonstrates the compatibility of FLIm instrumentation with in vivo clinical investigations and its potential to complement conventional IVUS during catheterization procedures. PMID:24898604

Ultrasound Guidance Versus Peripheral Neurostimulation for Brachial Plexus Block Anesthesia with Axillary Approach and Multiple Injection Technique

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lazar Alexandra

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Introduction: There are several approaches for brachial plexus anesthesia: supraclavicular, infraclavicular, interscalenic and axillary. Out of these, the axillary approach is considered to be the safest because of the low risk of lesioning the adjacent structures, low risk of phrenic nerve blockade or of producing an iatrogenic pneumothorax. The block can be performed by one single injection at the site, by two injections or by several injection, among each nerve of the plexus. Ultrasound was introduced in regional anesthesia since 1978, being used initially as an auxiliary method to peripheral neurostimulator.

Research interface on a programmable ultrasound scanner.

Science.gov (United States)

Shamdasani, Vijay; Bae, Unmin; Sikdar, Siddhartha; Yoo, Yang Mo; Karadayi, Kerem; Managuli, Ravi; Kim, Yongmin

2008-07-01

interface can aid researchers in the rapid testing and clinical evaluation of new ultrasound algorithms and applications. Additionally, we believe that our approach would be applicable to designing research interfaces on other ultrasound machines.

Robot-assisted ultrasound imaging: overview and development of a parallel telerobotic system.

Science.gov (United States)

Monfaredi, Reza; Wilson, Emmanuel; Azizi Koutenaei, Bamshad; Labrecque, Brendan; Leroy, Kristen; Goldie, James; Louis, Eric; Swerdlow, Daniel; Cleary, Kevin

2015-02-01

Ultrasound imaging is frequently used in medicine. The quality of ultrasound images is often dependent on the skill of the sonographer. Several researchers have proposed robotic systems to aid in ultrasound image acquisition. In this paper we first provide a short overview of robot-assisted ultrasound imaging (US). We categorize robot-assisted US imaging systems into three approaches: autonomous US imaging, teleoperated US imaging, and human-robot cooperation. For each approach several systems are introduced and briefly discussed. We then describe a compact six degree of freedom parallel mechanism telerobotic system for ultrasound imaging developed by our research team. The long-term goal of this work is to enable remote ultrasound scanning through teleoperation. This parallel mechanism allows for both translation and rotation of an ultrasound probe mounted on the top plate along with force control. Our experimental results confirmed good mechanical system performance with a positioning error of < 1 mm. Phantom experiments by a radiologist showed promising results with good image quality.

Prostate Ultrasound

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Full Text Available ... Physician Resources Professions Site Index A-Z Ultrasound - Prostate Ultrasound of the prostate uses sound waves to ... Ultrasound Imaging? What is Ultrasound Imaging of the Prostate? Ultrasound is safe and painless, and produces pictures ...

Ultrasound -- Pelvis

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Full Text Available ... specific content. Related Articles and Media Sonohysterography Ultrasound - Abdomen Children's (Pediatric) Ultrasound - Abdomen Obstetric Ultrasound Ultrasound - Prostate Kidney and ...

Degradation of 2,4-dichlorophenol using combined approach based on ultrasound, ozone and catalyst.

Science.gov (United States)

Barik, Arati J; Gogate, Parag R

2017-05-01

The present work investigates the application of ultrasound and ozone operated individually and in combination with catalyst (ZnO and CuO) for establishing the possible synergistic effects for the degradation of 2,4-dichlorophenol. The dependency of extent of degradation on the operating parameters like temperature (over the range of 30-36°C), initial pH (3-9), catalyst as ZnO (loading of 0.025-0.15g/L) and CuO (loading of 0.02-0.1g/L) and initial concentration of 2,4-DCP (20-50ppm) has been established to maximize the efficacy of ultrasound (US) induced degradation. Using only US, the maximum degradation of 2,4-DCP obtained was 28.85% under optimized conditions of initial concentration as 20ppm, pH of 5 and temperature of 34°C. Study of effect of ozone flow rate for approach of only ozone revealed that maximum degradation was obtained at 400mg/h ozone flow rate. The combined approaches such as US+O 3 , US+ZnO, US+CuO, O 3 +ZnO, O 3 +CuO, US+O 3 +ZnO and US+O 3 +CuO have been subsequently investigated under optimized conditions and observed to be more efficient as compared to individual approaches. The maximum extent of degradation for the combined operation of US+O 3 (400mg/h)+ZnO (0.1g/L) and US+O 3 (400mg/h)+CuO (0.08g/L) has been obtained as 95.66% and 97.03% respectively. The degradation products of 2,4-DCP have been identified using GC-MS analysis and the toxicity analysis has also been performed based on the anti-microbial activity test (agar-well diffusion method) for the different treatment strategies. The present work has conclusively established that the combined approach of US+O 3 +CuO was the most efficient treatment scheme resulting in near complete degradation of 2,4-DCP with production of less toxic intermediates. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Ultrasound -- Pelvis

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Impact of atrial fibrillation on the cardiovascular system through a lumped-parameter approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Scarsoglio, Stefania; Guala, Andrea; Camporeale, Carlo; Ridolfi, Luca

2014-11-01

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common arrhythmia affecting millions of people in the Western countries and, due to the widespread impact on the population and its medical relevance, is largely investigated in both clinical and bioengineering sciences. However, some important feedback mechanisms are still not clearly established. The present study aims at understanding the global response of the cardiovascular system during paroxysmal AF through a lumped-parameter approach, which is here performed paying particular attention to the stochastic modeling of the irregular heartbeats and the reduced contractility of the heart. AF can be here analyzed by means of a wide number of hemodynamic parameters and avoiding the presence of other pathologies, which usually accompany AF. Reduced cardiac output with correlated drop of ejection fraction and decreased amount of energy converted to work by the heart during blood pumping, as well as higher left atrial volumes and pressures are some of the most representative results aligned with the existing clinical literature and here emerging during acute AF. The present modeling, providing new insights on cardiovascular variables which are difficult to measure and rarely reported in literature, turns out to be an efficient and powerful tool for a deeper comprehension and prediction of the arrythmia impact on the whole cardiovascular system.

Ultrasound -- Pelvis

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Full Text Available ... Children's (Pediatric) Ultrasound - Abdomen Obstetric Ultrasound Ultrasound - Prostate Kidney and Bladder Stones Abnormal Vaginal Bleeding Ovarian Cancer Images related to Ultrasound - Pelvis Sponsored by Please ...

Utilization of diagnostic ultrasound and intravenous lipid-encapsulated perfluorocarbons in non-invasive targeted cardiovascular therapeutics.

Science.gov (United States)

Porter, Thomas R; Choudhury, Songita A; Xie, Feng

2016-01-01

Diagnostic ultrasound (DUS) pressures have the ability to induce inertial cavitation (IC) of systemically administered microbubbles; this bioeffect has many diagnostic and therapeutic implications in cardiovascular care. Diagnostically, commercially available lipid-encapsulated perfluorocarbons (LEP) can be utilized to improve endocardial and vascular border delineation as well as assess myocardial perfusion. Therapeutically, the liquid jets induced by IC can alter endothelial function and dissolve thrombi within the immediate vicinity of the cavitating microbubbles. The cavitating LEP can also result in the localized release of any bound therapeutic substance at the site of insonation. DUS-induced IC has been tested in pre-clinical studies to determine what effect it has on acute vascular and microvascular thrombosis as well as nitric oxide (NO) release. These pre-clinical studies have consistently shown that DUS-induced IC of LEP is effective in restoring coronary vascular and microvascular flow in acute ST segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), with microvascular flow improving even if upstream large vessel flow has not been achieved. The initial clinical trials examining the efficacy of short pulse duration DUS high mechanical index impulses in patients with STEMI are underway, and preliminary studies have suggested that earlier epicardial vessel recanalization can be achieved prior to arriving in the cardiac catheterization laboratory. DUS high mechanical index impulses have also been effective in pre-clinical studies for targeting DNA delivery that has restored islet cell function in type I diabetes and restored vascular flow in the extremities downstream from a peripheral vascular occlusion. Improvements in this technique will come from three dimensional arrays for therapeutic applications, more automated delivery techniques that can be applied in the field, and use of submicron-sized acoustically activated LEP droplets that may better permeate the

[Ultrasound of the urinary system].

Science.gov (United States)

Segura-Grau, A; Herzog, R; Díaz-Rodriguez, N; Segura-Cabral, J M

2016-09-01

Ultrasound techniques are able to provide a fairly complete examination of the urinary system, achieving a high sensitivity in relevant-pathology detection, especially in the kidney, bladder and prostate. Early detection of pathologies such as tumors or urinary tract obstructions, sometimes even before their clinical manifestation, has improved their management and prognosis in many cases. This, added to its low cost and harmlessness, makes ultrasound ideal for early approaches and follow-up of a wide number of urinary system pathologies. In this article, the ultrasound characteristics of the main urinary system pathologies that can be diagnosed by this technique, are reviewed. Copyright © 2014 Sociedad Española de Médicos de Atención Primaria (SEMERGEN). Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Aptamer-crosslinked microbubbles: smart contrast agents for thrombin-activated ultrasound imaging.

Science.gov (United States)

Nakatsuka, Matthew A; Mattrey, Robert F; Esener, Sadik C; Cha, Jennifer N; Goodwin, Andrew P

2012-11-27

Thrombosis, or malignant blood clotting, is associated with numerous cardiovascular diseases and cancers. A microbubble contrast agent is presented that produces ultrasound harmonic signal only when exposed to elevated thrombin levels. Initially silent microbubbles are activated in the presence of both thrombin-spiked and freshly clotting blood in three minutes with detection limits of 20 nM thrombin and 2 aM microbubbles. Copyright © 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Point-of-care cardiac ultrasound techniques in the physical examination: better at the bedside.

Science.gov (United States)

Kimura, Bruce J

2017-07-01

The development of hand-carried, battery-powered ultrasound devices has created a new practice in ultrasound diagnostic imaging, called 'point-of-care' ultrasound (POCUS). Capitalising on device portability, POCUS is marked by brief and limited ultrasound imaging performed by the physician at the bedside to increase diagnostic accuracy and expediency. The natural evolution of POCUS techniques in general medicine, particularly with pocket-sized devices, may be in the development of a basic ultrasound examination similar to the use of the binaural stethoscope. This paper will specifically review how POCUS improves the limited sensitivity of the current practice of traditional cardiac physical examination by both cardiologists and non-cardiologists. Signs of left ventricular systolic dysfunction, left atrial enlargement, lung congestion and elevated central venous pressures are often missed by physical techniques but can be easily detected by POCUS and have prognostic and treatment implications. Creating a general set of repetitive imaging skills for these entities for application on all patients during routine examination will standardise and reduce heterogeneity in cardiac bedside ultrasound applications, simplify teaching curricula, enhance learning and recollection, and unify competency thresholds and practice. The addition of POCUS to standard physical examination techniques in cardiovascular medicine will result in an ultrasound-augmented cardiac physical examination that reaffirms the value of bedside diagnosis. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

Prehospital Ultrasound

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jen-Tang Sun

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Ultrasound is a commonly used diagnostic tool in clinical conditions. With recent developments in technology, use of portable ultrasound devices has become feasible in prehospital settings. Many studies also proved the feasibility and accuracy of prehospital ultrasound. In this article, we focus on the use of prehospital ultrasound, with emphasis on trauma and chest ultrasound.

Estimation of prenatal aorta intima-media thickness from ultrasound examination

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Veronese, E; Tarroni, G; Grisan, E; Visentin, S; Cosmi, E; Linguraru, M G

2014-01-01

Prenatal events such as intrauterine growth restriction and increased cardiovascular risk in later life have been shown to be associated with an increased intima-media thickness (aIMT) of the abdominal aorta in the fetus. In order to assess and manage atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease risk in adults and children, in recent years the measurement of abdominal and carotid artery thickness has gained a growing appeal. Nevertheless, no computer aided method has been proposed for the analysis of prenatal vessels from ultrasound data, yet. To date, these measurements are being performed manually on ultrasound fetal images by skilled practitioners. The aim of the presented study is to introduce an automatic algorithm that identifies abdominal aorta and estimates its diameter and aIMT from routine third trimester ultrasonographic fetal data. The algorithm locates the aorta, then segments it and, by modeling the arterial wall longitudinal sections by means of a gaussian mixture, derives a set of measures of the aorta diameter (aDiam) and of the intima-media thickness (aIMT). After estimating the cardiac cycle, the mean diameter and the aIMT at the end-diastole phase are computed. Considering the aIMT value for each subject, the correlation between automatic and manual end-diastolic aIMT measurements is 0.91 in a range of values 0.44-1.10 mm, corresponding to both normal and pathological conditions. The automatic system yields a mean relative error of 19%, that is similar to the intra-observer variability (14%) and much lower that the inter-observer variability (42%). The correlation between manual and automatic measurements and the small error confirm the ability of the proposed system to reliably estimate aIMT values in prenatal ultrasound sequences, reducing measurement variability and suggesting that it can be used for an automatic assessment of aIMT. (paper)

Low-Frequency Ultrasound Therapy in Combination Treatment of Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

YE.E. LAVRINENKO

2013-04-01

Results. The beginning of therapeutic effect was observed after 2 procedures of the ultrasound exposure. The maximum effect is appeared after 8–10 treatment sessions. The positive dynamics of complex treatment is improving the general state of health, a disappearance of asthenization, and a decrease in the symptoms of cardiovascular disorders, achieving faster compensation of carbohydrate metabolism. The course of treatment contributed to the hyperglycemia reduction in patients with newly detected type 2 DM. After ultrasound treatment, the authors noted a positive dynamics of clinical symptoms: an improvement of the general health status, a decrease in fatigue, an improvement of psycho-emotional indices, disappearance of pain in the right upper quadrant, and a decrease in liver size in all the patients under study. Conclusions. The use of low-frequency ultrasound therapy on cutaneous projection of the liver in patients with type 2 DM promotes the normalization both fasting and postprandial glycemia. The effect of low-frequency ultrasound on cutaneous projection of the liver is significantly decreasing parameters that characterize the pancreatic insulin synthesizing function (immunoreactive insulin, C-peptide in patients with newly diagnosed type 2 DM and a BMI > 25 kg/m2. Low-frequency ultrasound reduces the glucagon secretion and thereby positively affects the hepatic gluconeogenesis. Ultrasound therapy can be used in the complex treatment of patients with newly diagnosed type 2 DM.

BBB disruption with unfocused ultrasound alone-A paradigm shift

Science.gov (United States)

Kyle, Al

2012-10-01

One paradigm for ultrasound-enabled blood brain barrier disruption uses image guided focused ultrasound and preformed microbubble agents to enable drug delivery to the brain. We propose an alternative approach: unguided, unfocused ultrasound with no adjunctive agent. Compared with the focused approach, the proposed method affects a larger region of the brain, and is aimed at treatment of regional neurological disease including glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). Avoidance of image guidance and focusing reduces cost for equipment and staff training. Avoidance of adjunctive agents also lowers cost and is enabled by a longer exposure time. Since 2004, our group has worked with two animal models, three investigators in four laboratories to safely deliver five compounds, increasing the concentration of large molecule markers in brain tissue two fold or more. Safety and effectiveness data for four studies have been presented at the Ultrasound Industry Association meetings in 2007 and 2010. This paper describes new safety and effectiveness results for a fifth study. We present evidence of delivery of large molecules - including Avastin-to the brains of a large animal model correlated with acoustic pressure, and summarize the advantages and disadvantages of this novel approach.

Exposure criteria for medical diagnostic ultrasound: 1, Criteria based on thermal mechanisms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1992-01-01

A previous report (NCRP, 1983) contains a comprehensive review of biological effects and mechanisms of action of ultrasound and an analysis of their implications for medical ultrasound. This Report presents background material for a scientifically-based approach to safety assessment of ultrasound. It is intended to help the medical community take advantage of new developments, while maintaining the excellent safety record which now exists for diagnostic ultrasound

Ultrasound-guided drug delivery in cancer

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Chowdhury, Sayan Mullick; Lee, Tae Hwa; Willmann, Jugen K. [Dept. of Radiology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford (United States)

2017-07-15

Recent advancements in ultrasound and microbubble (USMB) mediated drug delivery technology has shown that this approach can improve spatially confined delivery of drugs and genes to target tissues while reducing systemic dose and toxicity. The mechanism behind enhanced delivery of therapeutics is sonoporation, the formation of openings in the vasculature, induced by ultrasound-triggered oscillations and destruction of microbubbles. In this review, progress and challenges of USMB mediated drug delivery are summarized, with special focus on cancer therapy.

Ultrasound -- Pelvis

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Full Text Available ... Ultrasound - Pelvis Ultrasound imaging of the pelvis uses sound waves to produce pictures of the structures and ... pictures of the inside of the body using sound waves. Ultrasound imaging, also called ultrasound scanning or ...

Prostate Ultrasound

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Full Text Available ... ultrasound or with a rectal examination, an ultrasound-guided biopsy can be performed. This procedure involves advancing ... of the Prostate) Prostate Cancer Ultrasound- and MRI-Guided Prostate Biopsy Images related to Ultrasound - Prostate Sponsored ...

Feasibility of ultrasound-guided intraarticular contrast injection for MR arthrography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baek, Soo Jin; Lee, Jong Min; Kang, Duck Sick

2005-01-01

To assess the feasibility of ultrasound-guided intraarticular contrast injection using the posterior approach for MR arthrography. Between June 2002 and October 2004, 132 patients (29 female, 103 male: mean age, 33.6 years) underwent ultrasound-guided intraarticular contrast media injection (40 ml saline + 10 ml 2% lidocaine + 0.2 ml gadopentetate dimeglumine + 0.4 ml epinephrine) for MR arthrography. The patients were classified into four groups, viz. the no leakage group, the minor leakage with successful intraarticular injection group, the major leakage with unsuccessful intraarticular injection group, and the injection failure group. The 'no leakage' and 'minor leakage' groups were considered to be technical successes, while the 'major leakage' and 'injection failure' groups were regarded as technical failures. The technical success rate of ultrasound-guided intraarticular contrast injection using the posterior approach for MR Arthrography was 99.2% (131/132 patients) and one patients 0.7% (1/132 patients) was included in the 'major leakage' group. Ultrasound-guided intraarticular contrast injection using the posterior approach for MR arthrography was feasible with a high success rate

Prostate Ultrasound

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Full Text Available ... Z Ultrasound - Prostate Ultrasound of the prostate uses sound waves to produce pictures of a man’s prostate ... pictures of the inside of the body using sound waves. Ultrasound imaging, also called ultrasound scanning or ...

Ultrasound -- Pelvis

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... endometrial polyps fibroids cancer, especially in patients with abnormal uterine bleeding Some physicians also use 3-D ultrasound or ... Obstetric Ultrasound Ultrasound - Prostate Kidney and Bladder Stones Abnormal Vaginal Bleeding Ovarian Cancer Images related to Ultrasound - Pelvis Sponsored ...

A Human-Centered Approach to CV Care: Infrastructure Development in Uganda.

Science.gov (United States)

Longenecker, Christopher T; Kalra, Ankur; Okello, Emmy; Lwabi, Peter; Omagino, John O; Kityo, Cissy; Kamya, Moses R; Webel, Allison R; Simon, Daniel I; Salata, Robert A; Costa, Marco A

2018-04-20

In this case study, we describe an ongoing approach to develop sustainable acute and chronic cardiovascular care infrastructure in Uganda that involves patient and provider participation. Leveraging strong infrastructure for HIV/AIDS care delivery, University Hospitals Harrington Heart and Vascular Institute and Case Western Reserve University have partnered with U.S. and Ugandan collaborators to improve cardiovascular capabilities. The collaboration has solicited innovative solutions from patients and providers focusing on education and advanced training, penicillin supply, diagnostic strategy (e.g., hand-held ultrasound), maternal health, and community awareness. Key outcomes of this approach have been the completion of formal training of the first interventional cardiologists and heart failure specialists in the country, establishment of 4 integrated regional centers of excellence in rheumatic heart disease care with a national rheumatic heart disease registry, a penicillin distribution and adherence support program focused on retention in care, access to imaging technology, and in-country capabilities to treat advanced rheumatic heart valve disease. Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Abdominal fat distribution and cardiovascular risk in men and women with different levels of glucose tolerance

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Scheuer, Stine H.; Færch, Kristine; Philipsen, Annelotte

2015-01-01

) with cardiovascular risk factors in a Caucasian population ofmenand women with normal glucose tolerance, prediabetes, or screen-detected diabetes. Design, Setting, and Participants: The study was based on cross-sectional analysis of data from 1412adults age 45– 80 years. VAT and SAT were assessed by ultrasound...

Ultrasound -- Pelvis

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Full Text Available ... endometrial polyps fibroids cancer, especially in patients with abnormal uterine bleeding Some physicians also use 3-D ultrasound or ... Obstetric Ultrasound Ultrasound - Prostate Kidney and Bladder Stones Abnormal Vaginal Bleeding Ovarian Cancer Images related to Ultrasound - Pelvis Sponsored ...

The future of the cardiovascular image; El futuro de la imagen cardiovascular

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Serna M, J A [Hospital Angeles del Pedregal, Mexico D.F. (Mexico)

2007-07-01

In this work the future of the cardiovascular image is presented, it is important to know the advantages and disadvantages of the current image methods to apply them in each case. The characteristics of the methods are presented: X R simple plate, the cardiac ultrasound, the image by magnetic resonance, the computed tomography, the helicoid tomography, the SPECT of myocardial perfusion, the PET and the PET/CT and the used radiopharmaceuticals. The SPECT of myocardial perfusion is the more used method around the world for the evacuation of the coronary illness. It has a high sensitivity (between 90 and 97%), it is a non-invasive treatment (morbidity of 0.01%), of relative low cost and it is useful in the diagnosis of ischemia in groups of high risk like diabetics, dyslipidemia, obese and hypertension. (Author)

Can ultrasound extended emergency (EFAST) replace the chest radiograph in the initial approach to trauma?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aguirre Jimenez, Marcela

2010-01-01

The sensitivity diagnosed between ultrasound Extended emergency (EFAST) and portable radiography was compared. Life-threatening pathologies are detected in the initial approach to trauma, through an analysis comparative between EFAST and portable chest radiography. So, the need or not both studies or if the use of EFAST as the only diagnostic method in primary evaluation of trauma can be limited. The study has concluded that the EFAST can be used as the only tool for polytrauma patients, although in this analysis the sample has been very small [es

Active point out-of-plane ultrasound calibration

Science.gov (United States)

Cheng, Alexis; Guo, Xiaoyu; Zhang, Haichong K.; Kang, Hyunjae; Etienne-Cummings, Ralph; Boctor, Emad M.

2015-03-01

Image-guided surgery systems are often used to provide surgeons with informational support. Due to several unique advantages such as ease of use, real-time image acquisition, and no ionizing radiation, ultrasound is a common intraoperative medical imaging modality used in image-guided surgery systems. To perform advanced forms of guidance with ultrasound, such as virtual image overlays or automated robotic actuation, an ultrasound calibration process must be performed. This process recovers the rigid body transformation between a tracked marker attached to the transducer and the ultrasound image. Point-based phantoms are considered to be accurate, but their calibration framework assumes that the point is in the image plane. In this work, we present the use of an active point phantom and a calibration framework that accounts for the elevational uncertainty of the point. Given the lateral and axial position of the point in the ultrasound image, we approximate a circle in the axial-elevational plane with a radius equal to the axial position. The standard approach transforms all of the imaged points to be a single physical point. In our approach, we minimize the distances between the circular subsets of each image, with them ideally intersecting at a single point. We simulated in noiseless and noisy cases, presenting results on out-of-plane estimation errors, calibration estimation errors, and point reconstruction precision. We also performed an experiment using a robot arm as the tracker, resulting in a point reconstruction precision of 0.64mm.

C.A.U.S.E.: Cardiac arrest ultra-sound exam--a better approach to managing patients in primary non-arrhythmogenic cardiac arrest.

Science.gov (United States)

Hernandez, Caleb; Shuler, Klaus; Hannan, Hashibul; Sonyika, Chionesu; Likourezos, Antonios; Marshall, John

2008-02-01

Cardiac arrest is a condition frequently encountered by physicians in the hospital setting including the Emergency Department, Intensive Care Unit and medical/surgical wards. This paper reviews the current literature involving the use of ultrasound in resuscitation and proposes an algorithmic approach for the use of ultrasound during cardiac arrest. At present there is the need for a means of differentiating between various causes of cardiac arrest, which are not a direct result of a primary ventricular arrhythmia. Identifying the cause of pulseless electrical activity or asystole is important as the underlying cause is what guides management in such cases. This approach, incorporating ultrasound to manage cardiac arrest aids in the diagnosis of the most common and easily reversible causes of cardiac arrest not caused by primary ventricular arrhythmia, namely; severe hypovolemia, tension pneumothorax, cardiac tamponade, and massive pulmonary embolus. These four conditions are addressed in this paper using four accepted emergency ultrasound applications to be performed during resuscitation of a cardiac arrest patient with the aim of determining the underlying cause of a cardiac arrest. Identifying the underlying cause of cardiac arrest represents the one of the greatest challenges of managing patients with asystole or PEA and accurate determination has the potential to improve management by guiding therapeutic decisions. We include several clinical images demonstrating examples of cardiac tamponade, massive pulmonary embolus, and severe hypovolemia secondary to abdominal aortic aneurysm. In conclusion, this protocol has the potential to reduce the time required to determine the etiology of a cardiac arrest and thus decrease the time between arrest and appropriate therapy.

Ultrasound -- Pelvis

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Full Text Available ... Radiation Therapy for Gynecologic Cancers Radiation Therapy for Prostate Cancer top of page This page was reviewed on ... Abdomen Children's (Pediatric) Ultrasound - Abdomen Obstetric Ultrasound Ultrasound - Prostate Kidney and Bladder Stones Abnormal Vaginal Bleeding ... Images related to Ultrasound - Pelvis Sponsored by Please ...

Ultrasound-guided drug delivery in cancer

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sayan Mullick Chowdhury

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Recent advancements in ultrasound and microbubble (USMB mediated drug delivery technology has shown that this approach can improve spatially confined delivery of drugs and genes to target tissues while reducing systemic dose and toxicity. The mechanism behind enhanced delivery of therapeutics is sonoporation, the formation of openings in the vasculature, induced by ultrasound-triggered oscillations and destruction of microbubbles. In this review, progress and challenges of USMB mediated drug delivery are summarized, with special focus on cancer therapy.

Approaches to Sustainable Capacity Building for Cardiovascular Disease Care in Kenya.

Science.gov (United States)

Barasa, Felix A; Vedanthan, Rajesh; Pastakia, Sonak D; Crowe, Susie J; Aruasa, Wilson; Sugut, Wilson K; White, Russ; Ogola, Elijah S; Bloomfield, Gerald S; Velazquez, Eric J

2017-02-01

Cardiovascular diseases are approaching epidemic levels in Kenya and other low- and middle-income countries without accompanying effective preventive and therapeutic strategies. This is happening in the background of residual and emerging infections and other diseases of poverty, and increasing physical injuries from traffic accidents and noncommunicable diseases. Investments to create a skilled workforce and health care infrastructure are needed. Improving diagnostic capacity, access to high-quality medications, health care, appropriate legislation, and proper coordination are key components to ensuring the reversal of the epidemic and a healthy citizenry. Strong partnerships with the developed countries also crucial. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Evaluation of ultrasound training in the problem based learning radiography curriculum at Makerere University, Uganda

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Elsie, Kiguli-Malwadde; Gonzaga, Mubuuke A.; Francis, Businge; Rebecca, Nakatudde; Stephen, Bule

2010-01-01

Introduction: The College of Health Sciences (CHS), Makerere University has been training health professionals since 1924. Six years ago, there was a curriculum change to Problem Based Learning/Community based Education and Service (PBL/COBES). A SPICES model (Student centered, problem based, integrated, community based, electives, systematic) was adopted and defined to suit the CHS environment. The radiography program is 3 years in length which involves Ultrasound as an important part of the training. It was a challenge to adopt the new PBL method of learning after having a lecture-based pedagogical method for over 80 years. Objective: To implement the training of ultrasound in the PBL radiography curriculum as well as evaluate the opinions of the staff and students about Ultrasound training in the new curriculum. Methodology: A participatory approach was used. Workshops were conducted and objectives for ultrasound courses refined. Scenarios were written for use in the PBL sessions. A retrospective review of student performance in the ultrasound courses was carried out. A cross-sectional survey involving teachers and current radiography students was also carried out to evaluate learning of ultrasound using the PBL approach. Results: Students have consistently excelled in ultrasound courses using the PBL approach of learning. Both teachers and students rated the teaching of ultrasound to radiography students as being highly important and supported the new approach to training. Conclusion: Ultrasound training using PBL has been successfully implemented. However, this is still an ongoing process and will require the total commitment of both students and teachers.

Adaptive kernel regression for freehand 3D ultrasound reconstruction

Science.gov (United States)

Alshalalfah, Abdel-Latif; Daoud, Mohammad I.; Al-Najar, Mahasen

2017-03-01

Freehand three-dimensional (3D) ultrasound imaging enables low-cost and flexible 3D scanning of arbitrary-shaped organs, where the operator can freely move a two-dimensional (2D) ultrasound probe to acquire a sequence of tracked cross-sectional images of the anatomy. Often, the acquired 2D ultrasound images are irregularly and sparsely distributed in the 3D space. Several 3D reconstruction algorithms have been proposed to synthesize 3D ultrasound volumes based on the acquired 2D images. A challenging task during the reconstruction process is to preserve the texture patterns in the synthesized volume and ensure that all gaps in the volume are correctly filled. This paper presents an adaptive kernel regression algorithm that can effectively reconstruct high-quality freehand 3D ultrasound volumes. The algorithm employs a kernel regression model that enables nonparametric interpolation of the voxel gray-level values. The kernel size of the regression model is adaptively adjusted based on the characteristics of the voxel that is being interpolated. In particular, when the algorithm is employed to interpolate a voxel located in a region with dense ultrasound data samples, the size of the kernel is reduced to preserve the texture patterns. On the other hand, the size of the kernel is increased in areas that include large gaps to enable effective gap filling. The performance of the proposed algorithm was compared with seven previous interpolation approaches by synthesizing freehand 3D ultrasound volumes of a benign breast tumor. The experimental results show that the proposed algorithm outperforms the other interpolation approaches.

BMI, total and abdominal fat distribution, and cardiovascular risk factors in school-age children.

Science.gov (United States)

Gishti, Olta; Gaillard, Romy; Durmus, Busra; Abrahamse, Marieke; van der Beek, Eline M; Hofman, Albert; Franco, Oscar H; de Jonge, Layla L; Jaddoe, Vincent W V

2015-05-01

More specific total body and abdominal fat mass measures might be stronger associated with cardiovascular risk factors in childhood, than BMI. We examined the independent associations of total and abdominal fat measures with cardiovascular risk factors in school age children. We performed a population-based cohort study among 6,523 children. At the age of 6 y, we measured childhood BMI, and general and abdominal fat mass, using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, and ultrasound and cardiovascular risk factors. Conditional on BMI, higher fat mass percentage and abdominal fat mass were associated with higher blood pressure, total- and low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol, insulin and c-peptide levels, but with lower left ventricular mass and high-density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol (P values children. Higher childhood adiposity measures were associated with increased odds of cardiovascular risk factors clustering, with the strongest effect for fat mass percentage (odds ratios: 3.01 (95% confidence interval: 2.67, 3.9). Our results suggest that general and abdominal fat measures are associated with cardiovascular risk factors in childhood, independent from BMI. These measures may provide additional information for identification of children with an adverse cardiovascular profile.

Cardiovascular Risk Stratification in Patients with Metabolic Syndrome Without Diabetes or Cardiovascular Disease: Usefulness of Metabolic Syndrome Severity Score.

Science.gov (United States)

Masson, Walter; Epstein, Teo; Huerín, Melina; Lobo, Lorenzo Martín; Molinero, Graciela; Angel, Adriana; Masson, Gerardo; Millán, Diana; De Francesca, Salvador; Vitagliano, Laura; Cafferata, Alberto; Losada, Pablo

2017-09-01

The estimated cardiovascular risk determined by the different risk scores, could be heterogeneous in patients with metabolic syndrome without diabetes or vascular disease. This risk stratification could be improved by detecting subclinical carotid atheromatosis. To estimate the cardiovascular risk measured by different scores in patients with metabolic syndrome and analyze its association with the presence of carotid plaque. Non-diabetic patients with metabolic syndrome (Adult Treatment Panel III definition) without cardiovascular disease were enrolled. The Framingham score, the Reynolds score, the new score proposed by the 2013 ACC/AHA Guidelines and the Metabolic Syndrome Severity Calculator were calculated. Prevalence of carotid plaque was determined by ultrasound examination. A Receiver Operating Characteristic analysis was performed. A total of 238 patients were enrolled. Most patients were stratified as "low risk" by Framingham score (64%) and Reynolds score (70.1%). Using the 2013 ACC/AHA score, 45.3% of the population had a risk ≥7.5%. A significant correlation was found between classic scores but the agreement (concordance) was moderate. The correlation between classical scores and the Metabolic Syndrome Severity Calculator was poor. Overall, the prevalence of carotid plaque was 28.2%. The continuous metabolic syndrome score used in our study showed a good predictive power to detect carotid plaque (area under the curve 0.752). In this population, the calculated cardiovascular risk was heterogenic. The prevalence of carotid plaque was high. The Metabolic Syndrome Severity Calculator showed a good predictive power to detect carotid plaque.

General Ultrasound Imaging

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Full Text Available ... inserted into a man's rectum to view the prostate. Transvaginal ultrasound. The transducer is inserted into a ... Stenting Ultrasound-Guided Breast Biopsy Obstetric Ultrasound Ultrasound - Prostate Biopsies - Overview Images related to General Ultrasound Videos ...

General Ultrasound Imaging

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Full Text Available ... News Physician Resources Professions Site Index A-Z General Ultrasound Ultrasound imaging uses sound waves to produce ... the limitations of General Ultrasound Imaging? What is General Ultrasound Imaging? Ultrasound is safe and painless, and ...

Residual generator for cardiovascular anomalies detection

KAUST Repository

Belkhatir, Zehor; Laleg-Kirati, Taous-Meriem; Tadjine, Mohamed

2014-01-01

This paper discusses the possibility of using observer-based approaches for cardiovascular anomalies detection and isolation. We consider a lumped parameter model of the cardiovascular system that can be written in a form of nonlinear state

Automated Breast Ultrasound Lesions Detection using Convolutional Neural Networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Yap, Moi Hoon; Pons, Gerard; Marti, Joan; Ganau, Sergi; Sentis, Melcior; Zwiggelaar, Reyer; Davison, Adrian K; Marti, Robert

2017-08-07

Breast lesion detection using ultrasound imaging is considered an important step of Computer-Aided Diagnosis systems. Over the past decade, researchers have demonstrated the possibilities to automate the initial lesion detection. However, the lack of a common dataset impedes research when comparing the performance of such algorithms. This paper proposes the use of deep learning approaches for breast ultrasound lesion detection and investigates three different methods: a Patch-based LeNet, a U-Net, and a transfer learning approach with a pretrained FCN-AlexNet. Their performance is compared against four state-of-the-art lesion detection algorithms (i.e. Radial Gradient Index, Multifractal Filtering, Rule-based Region Ranking and Deformable Part Models). In addition, this paper compares and contrasts two conventional ultrasound image datasets acquired from two different ultrasound systems. Dataset A comprises 306 (60 malignant and 246 benign) images and Dataset B comprises 163 (53 malignant and 110 benign) images. To overcome the lack of public datasets in this domain, Dataset B will be made available for research purposes. The results demonstrate an overall improvement by the deep learning approaches when assessed on both datasets in terms of True Positive Fraction, False Positives per image, and F-measure.

IgG4-related cardiovascular disease. The emerging role of cardiovascular imaging.

Science.gov (United States)

Mavrogeni, Sophie; Markousis-Mavrogenis, George; Kolovou, Genovefa

2017-01-01

Immunoglobulin 4-related disease (IgG4-related disease) is a systemic inflammatory disease that presents with increases of serum IgG4. It may affect various systems, including the cardiovascular (CV) system. Assessment of serum IgG4 levels and involved organ biopsy are necessary for diagnosis. IgG4-related disease is characterized by fibrosclerosis, lymphocytic infiltration and presence of IgG4-positive plasma cells. The disease usually responds to treatment with corticosteroids and/or immunosuppressive medication. CV involvement may manifest as cardiac pseudotumors, inflammatory periaortitis, coronary arteritis and/or pericarditis. IgG4-related cardiovascular disorders can severely affect patient prognosis. Various imaging techniques, including echocardiography, Computed Tomography (CT), 18FDG-PET, Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance (CMR) and cardiac catheterisation, have been successfully used for early disease detection and follow-up. Echocardiography and vascular ultrasound are the most commonly used non-invasive, non-radiating imaging techniques for the evaluation of IgG4-related CV disease. Periaortitis/periarteritis can be also assessed by CT, showing a soft tissue thickening around arteries. Coronary artery aneurysms can be easily diagnosed by coronary CT. In case of active periarterial or coronary artery inflammation, 18FDG-PET will show FDG uptake at the area of the lesion. CMR, due to its capability to perform function and tissue characterisation, can offer an integrated imaging of aorta, coronary arteries and the heart, assessment of disease acuity, extent of fibrosis and guide further treatment. However, multimodality imaging may be necessary for assessment of disease activity and fibrosis extent in those cases with multifocal CV involvement. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Prostate Ultrasound

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Full Text Available ... through blood vessels. Ultrasound imaging is a noninvasive medical test that helps physicians diagnose and treat medical conditions. Prostate ultrasound, also called transrectal ultrasound, provides ...

Comparison of ultrasound and ultrasound plus nerve stimulator guidance axillary plexus block

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Demirelli, G.; Baskan, S.; Karabeyoglu, I.; Aytac, I.; Omek, D.H.; Erdogmus, A.; Baydar, M.

2017-01-01

To evaluate the characteristics of axillary plexus blockade applied using ultrasound only and using ultrasound together with nerve stimulator in patients undergoing planned forearm, wrist or hand surgery. Methods: This randomised, prospective, double-blinded, single-centre study was conducted at Ankara Numune Training and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey, from November 2014 to August 2015, and comprised patients undergoing forearm, wrist or hand surgery. Participants were separated into 2 groups. In Group 1, the nerve roots required for the surgical site were located one by one and local anaesthetic was applied separately to each nerve for the block. In Group 2, the vascular nerve bundle was located under ultrasound guidance and a total block was achieved by administering all the local anaesthetic within the nerve sheath. In the operating room, standard monitorisation was applied. Following preparation of the skin, the axillary region nerve roots and branches and vascular structures were observed by examination with a high-frequency ultrasound probe. In both groups, a 22-gauge, 5cm block needle was entered to the axillary region with visualisation of the whole needle on ultrasound and 20ml local anaesthetic of 0.5% bupivacaine was injected. SPSS 19 was used for data analysis. Results: Of the 60 participants, there were 30(50%) in each group. The mean age was 39.1+-15 years in the group 1 which was the ultrasound nerve stimulation group, and 41.5+-14.3 years in group 2. The duration of the procedure was longer in group I than in group 2 (p<0.05). Patient satisfaction values during the procedure were higher in group 2(p<0.05). In the ulnar sensory examination, the values of the patients in group 1 were higher at 10, 15, 20 and 25 minutes (p<0.05). In the median, radial and ulnar motor examination, the values of the patients in group 1were higher at 15 and 20 minutes (p<0.05). Conclusion: Brachial plexus blockade via axillary approach guided by ultrasound offered

Analysis of contact stiffness in ultrasound atomic force microscopy: three-dimensional time-dependent ultrasound modeling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Piras, Daniele; Sadeghian, Hamed

2017-01-01

Ultrasound atomic force microscopy (US-AFM) has been used for subsurface imaging of nanostructures. The contact stiffness variations have been suggested as the origin of the image contrast. Therefore, to analyze the image contrast, the local changes in the contact stiffness due to the presence of subsurface features should be calculated. So far, only static simulations have been conducted to analyze the local changes in the contact stiffness and, consequently, the contrast in US-AFM. Such a static approach does not fully represent the real US-AFM experiment, where an ultrasound wave is launched either into the sample or at the tip, which modulates the contact stiffness. This is a time-dependent nonlinear dynamic problem rather than a static and stationary one. This paper presents dynamic 3D ultrasound analysis of contact stiffness in US-AFM (in contrast to static analysis) to realistically predict the changes in contact stiffness and thus the changes in the subsurface image contrast. The modulation frequency also influences the contact stiffness variations and, thus, the image contrast. The three-dimensional time-dependent ultrasound analysis will greatly aid in the contrast optimization of subsurface nano imaging with US-AFM. (paper)

New paradigms in PCOS: impaired glucose tolerance and cardiovascular risk. Clinical approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Ravn, P

2015-04-01

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is the most common endocrine disorder amongst women of reproductive age and is associated with various metabolic risk factors, in addition to chronic anovulation and factors related to androgen excess. Women with PCOS have a higher risk of insulin resistance, hyperinsulinemia, glucose intolerance, dyslipidemia, and an increased prothrombotic state, resulting in a higher risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus, subclinical atherosclerosis, vascular dysfunction, and apparently cardiovascular disease and mortality. The aim of the present article was to summarize current knowledge with focus on a suggestion to the clinical approach and handling of these metabolic risk factors.

Modeling of short-term mechanism of arterial pressure control in the cardiovascular system: object-oriented and acausal approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Kulhánek, Tomáš; Kofránek, Jiří; Mateják, Marek

2014-11-01

This letter introduces an alternative approach to modeling the cardiovascular system with a short-term control mechanism published in Computers in Biology and Medicine, Vol. 47 (2014), pp. 104-112. We recommend using abstract components on a distinct physical level, separating the model into hydraulic components, subsystems of the cardiovascular system and individual subsystems of the control mechanism and scenario. We recommend utilizing an acausal modeling feature of Modelica language, which allows model variables to be expressed declaratively. Furthermore, the Modelica tool identifies which are the dependent and independent variables upon compilation. An example of our approach is introduced on several elementary components representing the hydraulic resistance to fluid flow and the elastic response of the vessel, among others. The introduced model implementation can be more reusable and understandable for the general scientific community. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

[Focused ultrasound therapy: current status and potential applications in neurosurgery].

Science.gov (United States)

Dervishi, E; Aubry, J-F; Delattre, J-Y; Boch, A-L

2013-12-01

High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) therapy is an innovative approach for tissue ablation, based on high intensity focused ultrasound beams. At the focus, HIFU induces a temperature elevation and the tissue can be thermally destroyed. In fact, this approach has been tested in a number of clinical studies for the treatment of several tumors, primarily the prostate, uterine, breast, bone, liver, kidney and pancreas. For transcranial brain therapy, the skull bone is a major limitation, however, new adaptive techniques of phase correction for focusing ultrasound through the skull have recently been implemented by research systems, paving the way for HIFU therapy to become an interesting alternative to brain surgery and radiotherapy. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

An integrated approach to preventing cardiovascular disease: community-based approaches, health system initiatives, and public health policy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tina Karwalajtys

2010-09-01

Full Text Available Tina Karwalajtys1, Janusz Kaczorowski2,31Department of Family Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada; 2Primary Care & Community Research, Child & Family Research Institute, Vancouver, BC, Canada; 3Department of Family Practice, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, CanadaAbstract: Cardiovascular disease (CVD is largely the product of interactions among modifiable risk factors that are common in developed nations and increasingly of concern in developing countries. Hypertension is an important precursor to the development of CVD, and although detection and treatment rates have improved in recent years in some jurisdictions, effective strategies and policies supporting a shift in distribution of risk factors at the population level remain paramount. Challenges in managing cardiovascular health more effectively include factors at the patient, provider, and system level. Strategies to reduce hypertension and CVD should be population based, incorporate multilevel, multicomponent, and socioenvironmental approaches, and integrate community resources with public health and clinical care. There is an urgent need to improve monitoring and management of risk factors through community-wide, primary care-linked initiatives, increase the evidence base for community-based prevention strategies, further develop and evaluate promising program components, and develop new approaches to support healthy lifestyle behaviors in diverse age, socioeconomic, and ethnocultural groups. Policy and system changes are critical to reduce risk in populations, including legislation and public education to reduce dietary sodium and trans-fatty acids, food pricing policies, and changes to health care delivery systems to explicitly support prevention and management of CVD.Keywords: risk factors, blood pressure determination, community health services, community health planning, public health practice

PRIORITIES IN CONCEPT OF CARDIOVASCULAR RISK FACTORS IN IRRADIATED PATIENTS AT DISTANT PERIOD AFTER CHERNOBYL NUCLEAR DISASTER BASED ON PROSPECTIVE COHORT DATA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. G. Oganov

2008-01-01

Full Text Available Aim. To study pathogenetic mechanisms and cardiovascular risk factors prospective cohort study in liquidators of consequences of Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster 13-20 years after an accident.Material and methods. 409 irradiated patients and 224 control patients comparable on the age and gender were involved into two-stage cohort prospective study with 4,5years period of observation. Database included results of standard questionnaires, social and demographic description, education, family status, smoking and alcohol habits, anthropometry, fasting lipids and glucose, blood pressure, ECG, arrhythmias on ECG monitoring, heart rhythm variability, Echocardiography, thyroid ultrasound image, spirometry, transesophageal electrophysiological study of heart conduction system, exercise tests, functional class of ischemic heart disease, stage of arterial hypertension, fatal/nonfatal end-points, as well as neurologist, endocrinologist and cardiologist conclusions. Totally 267 variables were included in the analysis.Results. Spectrum of active cardiovascular risk factors in cohort of irradiated patients was entirely different from this in control patients. Determinative value for irradiated patients was related with night hypersympathetic activity, ANDS syndrome (Autonomic Nervous Dysfunction on hyperSympathetic type and less related with decreased airway conductance in small bronchial tubes.Conclusion. Comparative prospective cohort study in liquidators of consequences of Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster 13-20 years after an accident revealed highly significant new and permanently acting cardiovascular risk factors. These data let to work out appropriate approaches to therapy and prevention of cardiovascular diseases.

3D Flow reconstruction using ultrasound PIV

Science.gov (United States)

Poelma, C.; Mari, J. M.; Foin, N.; Tang, M.-X.; Krams, R.; Caro, C. G.; Weinberg, P. D.; Westerweel, J.

2011-04-01

Ultrasound particle image velocimetry (PIV) can be used to obtain velocity fields in non-transparent geometries and/or fluids. In the current study, we use this technique to document the flow in a curved tube, using ultrasound contrast bubbles as flow tracer particles. The performance of the technique is first tested in a straight tube, with both steady laminar and pulsatile flows. Both experiments confirm that the technique is capable of reliable measurements. A number of adaptations are introduced that improve the accuracy and applicability of ultrasound PIV. Firstly, due to the method of ultrasound image acquisition, a correction is required for the estimation of velocities from tracer displacements. This correction accounts for the fact that columns in the image are recorded at slightly different instances. The second improvement uses a slice-by-slice scanning approach to obtain three-dimensional velocity data. This approach is here demonstrated in a strongly curved tube. The resulting flow profiles and wall shear stress distribution shows a distinct asymmetry. To meaningfully interpret these three-dimensional results, knowledge of the measurement thickness is required. Our third contribution is a method to determine this quantity, using the correlation peak heights. The latter method can also provide the third (out-of-plane) component if the measurement thickness is known, so that all three velocity components are available using a single probe.

Blotting from PhastGel to Membranes by Ultrasound.

Science.gov (United States)

Kost, Joseph; Azagury, Aharon

2015-01-01

Ultrasound based approach for enhanced protein blotting is proposed. Three minutes of ultrasound exposure (1 MHz, 2.5 W/cm(2)) was sufficient for a clear transfer of proteins from a polyacrylamide gel (PhastGel) to nitrocellulose or Nylon 66 Biotrans membrane. The proteins evaluated were prestained sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide standards (18,500-106,000 Da) and 14C-labeled Rainbow protein molecular weight markers (14,300-200,000 Da).

Ultrasound -- Pelvis

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Full Text Available ... three types of pelvic ultrasound: abdominal, vaginal (for women), and rectal (for men). These exams are frequently ... pelvic ultrasound: abdominal ( transabdominal ) vaginal ( transvaginal / endovaginal ) for women rectal ( transrectal ) for men A Doppler ultrasound exam ...

Ultrasound -- Pelvis

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Full Text Available ... a pelvic ultrasound examination. Doppler ultrasound , also called color Doppler ultrasonography, is a special ultrasound technique that ... and processes the sounds and creates graphs or color pictures that represent the flow of blood through ...

Ultrasound -- Pelvis

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Full Text Available ... Ultrasound imaging is a noninvasive medical test that helps physicians diagnose and treat medical conditions. There are ... Ultrasound page for more information . Ultrasound examinations can help diagnose symptoms experienced by women such as: pelvic ...

Ultrasound -- Pelvis

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Full Text Available ... ultrasound images are captured in real-time, they can show the structure and movement of the body's ... Obstetrical Ultrasound page for more information . Ultrasound examinations can help diagnose symptoms experienced by women such as: ...

The development of an innovative approach to postgraduate ultrasound education: An evolving process

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gibbs, Vivien

2011-01-01

Increasing economic pressures on higher education institutions to limit the number of modules offered, together with the conflicting pressure from hospital departments requiring an increasingly skilled and flexible workforce, have resulted in the requirement for a more creative approach to delivery of university postgraduate programmes. One approach implemented at the University of the West of England, Bristol was to extend the role of an Action Based Learning (ABL) module within the Medical Ultrasound programme. Following completion of the first year of this newly accredited module, the experiences of students and staff were evaluated. Results of the evaluation and feedback demonstrated both positive and negative features of this style of learning, and the programme team decided to use this feedback to enhance the student experience for future cohorts undertaking the module. The second delivery of this module is now complete, and the module has again been evaluated. The following article discusses the evolutionary process involved in developing this module, and reviews the enhancements introduced over a two-year period.

Introduction of basic obstetrical ultrasound screening in undergraduate medical education.

Science.gov (United States)

Hamza, A; Solomayer, E-F; Takacs, Z; Juhasz-Boes, I; Joukhadar, R; Radosa, J C; Mavrova, R; Marc, W; Volk, T; Meyberg-Solomayer, G

2016-09-01

Teaching ultrasound procedures to undergraduates has recently been proposed to improve the quality of medical education. We address the impact of applying standardized ultrasound teaching to our undergraduates. Medical students received an additional theoretical and practical course involving hands-on ultrasound screening during their mandatory practical training week in obstetrics and gynecology. The students' theoretical knowledge and fetal image recognition skills were tested before and after the course. After the course, the students were asked to answer a course evaluation questionnaire. To standardize the teaching procedure, we used Peyton's 4-Step Approach to teach the skills needed for a German Society of Ultrasound in Medicine Level 1 ultrasound examiner. The multiple-choice question scores after the course showed statistically significant improvement (50 vs. 80 %; P education that should be further evaluated, standardized, and developed.

Novel combined management approaches to patients with diabetes, chronic kidney disease and cardiovascular disease.

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Spaak, J

2017-03-01

Most patients we care for today suffer from more than one chronic disease, and multimorbidity is a rapidly growing challenge. Concomitant cardiovascular disease, renal dysfunction and diabetes represent a large proportion of all patients in cardiology, nephrology and diabetology. These entities commonly overlap due to their negative effects on vascular function and an accelerated atherosclerosis progression. At the same time, a progressive subspecialisation has caused the cardiologist to treat 'only' the heart, nephrologists 'only' the kidneys and endocrinologists' 'only' diabetes. Studies and guidelines follow the same pattern. This often requires patients to visit specialists for each field, with a risk of both under-diagnosis and under-treatment. From the patient's perspective, there is a great need for coordination and facilitation of the care, not only to reduce disease progression but also to improve quality of life. Person-centred integrated clinics for patients with cardiovascular disease, renal dysfunction and diabetes are a promising approach for complex chronic disease management.

Ultrasound assisted synthesis of iron doped TiO2 catalyst.

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Ambati, Rohini; Gogate, Parag R

2018-01-01

The present work deals with synthesis of Fe (III) doped TiO 2 catalyst using the ultrasound assisted approach and conventional sol-gel approach with an objective of establishing the process intensification benefits. Effect of operating parameters such as Fe doping, type of solvent, solvent to precursor ratio and initial temperature has been investigated to get the best catalyst with minimum particle size. Comparison of the catalysts obtained using the conventional and ultrasound assisted approach under the optimized conditions has been performed using the characterization techniques like DLS, XRD, BET, SEM, EDS, TEM, FTIR and UV-Vis band gap analysis. It was established that catalyst synthesized by ultrasound assisted approach under optimized conditions of 0.4mol% doping, irradiation time of 60min, propan-2-ol as the solvent with the solvent to precursor ratio as 10 and initial temperature of 30°C was the best one with minimum particle size as 99nm and surface area as 49.41m 2 /g. SEM analysis, XRD analysis as well as the TEM analysis also confirmed the superiority of the catalyst obtained using ultrasound assisted approach as compared to the conventional approach. EDS analysis also confirmed the presence of 4.05mol% of Fe element in the sample of 0.4mol% iron doped TiO 2 . UV-Vis band gap results showed the reduction in band gap from 3.2eV to 2.9eV. Photocatalytic experiments performed to check the activity also confirmed that ultrasonically synthesized Fe doped TiO 2 catalyst resulted in a higher degradation of Acid Blue 80 as 38% while the conventionally synthesized catalyst resulted in a degradation of 31.1%. Overall, the work has clearly established importance of ultrasound in giving better catalyst characteristics as well as activity for degradation of the Acid Blue 80 dye. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The efficacy of ultrasound treatment as a reversible male contraceptive in the rhesus monkey.

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VandeVoort, Catherine A; Tollner, Theodore L

2012-09-12

The use of therapeutic ultrasound as a contraceptive approach has involved nonhuman primates as well as rats and dogs. The current study was undertaken to determine whether this treatment could be a method for reversible contraception, using a model with testes size similar to adult humans. Two methods of ultrasound exposure were used, either the transducer probe at the bottom of a cup filled with saline (Cup) or direct application to the surface of the scrotum (Direct). Four adult rhesus (Macaca mulatta) males with normal semen parameters were treated with therapeutic ultrasound at 2.5 W/cm(2) for 30 min. Treatment was given 3 times, one every other day on a Monday-Wednesday-Friday schedule. For each male, semen quality was evaluated a minimum of three times over several months prior to ultrasound exposure and weekly for two months following ultrasound treatment. Semen samples from all males, regardless of exposure method, exhibited a decrease in the percentage of motile sperm following ultrasound treatment. There was an average reduction in motility of 40% the week following treatment. Similarly, curvilinear velocity and the percentage of sperm with a normally shaped flagellum were also reduced in all males following ultrasound treatment. A significant reduction in the total number of sperm in an ejaculate (total sperm count) was only observed in males that received ultrasound via the cup method. Following treatment via the cup method, males exhibited up to a 91.7% decrease in average total sperm count (n = 2). Sperm count did not approach pre-treatment levels until 8 weeks following ultrasound exposure. The sustained reduction in sperm count, percent motility, normal morphology, and sperm vigor with the cup exposure method provides proof of principle that testicular treatment with ultrasound can be an effective contraceptive approach in humans.

The efficacy of ultrasound treatment as a reversible male contraceptive in the rhesus monkey

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

VandeVoort Catherine A

2012-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The use of therapeutic ultrasound as a contraceptive approach has involved nonhuman primates as well as rats and dogs. The current study was undertaken to determine whether this treatment could be a method for reversible contraception, using a model with testes size similar to adult humans. Methods Two methods of ultrasound exposure were used, either the transducer probe at the bottom of a cup filled with saline (Cup or direct application to the surface of the scrotum (Direct. Four adult rhesus (Macaca mulatta males with normal semen parameters were treated with therapeutic ultrasound at 2.5 W/cm(2 for 30 min. Treatment was given 3 times, one every other day on a Monday-Wednesday-Friday schedule. For each male, semen quality was evaluated a minimum of three times over several months prior to ultrasound exposure and weekly for two months following ultrasound treatment. Results Semen samples from all males, regardless of exposure method, exhibited a decrease in the percentage of motile sperm following ultrasound treatment. There was an average reduction in motility of 40% the week following treatment. Similarly, curvilinear velocity and the percentage of sperm with a normally shaped flagellum were also reduced in all males following ultrasound treatment. A significant reduction in the total number of sperm in an ejaculate (total sperm count was only observed in males that received ultrasound via the cup method. Following treatment via the cup method, males exhibited up to a 91.7% decrease in average total sperm count (n = 2. Sperm count did not approach pre-treatment levels until 8 weeks following ultrasound exposure. Conclusions The sustained reduction in sperm count, percent motility, normal morphology, and sperm vigor with the cup exposure method provides proof of principle that testicular treatment with ultrasound can be an effective contraceptive approach in humans.

General Ultrasound Imaging

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Full Text Available ... What are the limitations of General Ultrasound Imaging? What is General Ultrasound Imaging? Ultrasound is safe and ... be heard with every heartbeat. top of page What are some common uses of the procedure? Ultrasound ...

General Ultrasound Imaging

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Full Text Available ... Index A-Z General Ultrasound Ultrasound imaging uses sound waves to produce pictures of the inside of ... pictures of the inside of the body using sound waves. Ultrasound imaging, also called ultrasound scanning or ...

General Ultrasound Imaging

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Full Text Available ... guide biopsy of breast cancer ( see the Ultrasound-Guided Breast Biopsy page . diagnose a variety of heart ... Articles and Media Angioplasty and Vascular Stenting Ultrasound-Guided Breast Biopsy Obstetric Ultrasound Ultrasound - Prostate Biopsies - Overview ...

General Ultrasound Imaging

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Full Text Available ... of an ultrasound examination. Doppler ultrasound , also called color Doppler ultrasonography, is a special ultrasound technique that ... kidneys. There are three types of Doppler ultrasound: Color Doppler uses a computer to convert Doppler measurements ...

General Ultrasound Imaging

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Full Text Available ... those sound waves to create an image. Ultrasound examinations do not use ionizing radiation (as used in ... ultrasound study may be part of an ultrasound examination. Doppler ultrasound , also called color Doppler ultrasonography, is ...

Electrical impedance tomography imaging using a priori ultrasound data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Soleimani Manuchehr

2006-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Different imaging systems (e.g. electrical, magnetic, and ultrasound rely on a wide variety of physical properties, and the datasets obtained from such systems provide only partial information about the unknown true state. One approach is to choose complementary imaging systems, and to combine the information to achieve a better representation. Methods This paper discusses the combination of ultrasound and electrical impedance tomography (EIT information. Ultrasound reflection signals are good at locating sharp acoustic density changes associated with the boundaries of objects. Some boundaries, however, may be indeterminable due to masking from intermediate boundaries or because they are outside the ultrasound beam. Conversely, the EIT data contains relatively low-quality information, but it includes the whole region enclosed by the electrodes. Results Results are shown from a narrowband level-set method applied to 2D and 3D EIT incorporating limited angle ultrasound time of flight data. Conclusion The EIT reconstruction is shown to be faster and more accurate using the additional edge information from both one and four transducer ultrasound systems.

Ultrasound assisted nucleation and growth characteristics of glycine polymorphs--a combined experimental and analytical approach.

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Renuka Devi, K; Raja, A; Srinivasan, K

2015-05-01

For the first time, the effect of ultrasound in the diagnostic frequency range of 1-10 MHz on the nucleation and growth characteristics of glycine has been explored. The investigation employing the ultrasonic interferometer was carried out at a constant insonation time over a wide range of relative supersaturation from σ=-0.09 to 0.76 in the solution. Ultrasound promotes only α nucleation and completely inhibits both the β and γ nucleation in the system. The propagation of ultrasound assisted mass transport facilitates nucleation even at very low supersaturation levels in the solution. The presence of ultrasound exhibits a profound effect on nucleation and growth characteristics in terms of decrease in induction period, increase in nucleation rate and decrease in crystal size than its absence in the solution. With an increase in the frequency of ultrasound, a further decrease in induction period, increase in nucleation rate and decrease in the size of the crystal is noticed even at the same relative supersaturation levels. The increase in the nucleation rate explains the combined dominating effects of both the ultrasound frequency and the supersaturation in the solution. Analytically, the nucleation parameters of the nucleated polymorph have been deduced at different ultrasonic frequencies based on the classical nucleation theory and correlations with the experimental results have been obtained. Structural affirmation of the nucleated polymorph has been ascertained by powder X-ray diffraction. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Musculoskeletal ultrasound in rheumatology in Korea: targeted ultrasound initiative survey.

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Kang, Taeyoung; Wakefield, Richard J; Emery, Paul

2016-04-01

In collaboration with the Targeted Ultrasound Initiative (TUI), to conduct the first study in Korea to investigate current practices in ultrasound use among Korean rheumatologists. We translated the TUI Global Survey into Korean and added questions to better understand the specific challenges facing rheumatologists in Korea. To target as many rheumatologists in Korea as possible, we created an on-line version of this survey, which was conducted from March to April 2013. Rheumatologists are in charge of ultrasound in many Korean hospitals. Rheumatologists in hospitals and private clinics use ultrasound to examine between one and five patients daily; they use ultrasound for diagnosis more than monitoring and receive compensation of about US$30-50 per patient. There are marked differences in the rates of ultrasound usage between rheumatologists who work in private practice compared with tertiary hospitals. Korean rheumatologists not currently using ultrasound in their practice appear eager to do so. This survey provides important insights into the current status of ultrasound in rheumatology in Korea and highlights several priorities; specifically, greater provision of formal training, standardization of reporting and accrual of greater experience among ultrasound users. If these needs are addressed, all rheumatology departments in Korea are likely to use ultrasound or have access to it in the future. © 2014 Asia Pacific League of Associations for Rheumatology and Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.

Varying ultrasound power level to distinguish surgical instruments and tissue.

Science.gov (United States)

Ren, Hongliang; Anuraj, Banani; Dupont, Pierre E

2018-03-01

We investigate a new framework of surgical instrument detection based on power-varying ultrasound images with simple and efficient pixel-wise intensity processing. Without using complicated feature extraction methods, we identified the instrument with an estimated optimal power level and by comparing pixel values of varying transducer power level images. The proposed framework exploits the physics of ultrasound imaging system by varying the transducer power level to effectively distinguish metallic surgical instruments from tissue. This power-varying image-guidance is motivated from our observations that ultrasound imaging at different power levels exhibit different contrast enhancement capabilities between tissue and instruments in ultrasound-guided robotic beating-heart surgery. Using lower transducer power levels (ranging from 40 to 75% of the rated lowest ultrasound power levels of the two tested ultrasound scanners) can effectively suppress the strong imaging artifacts from metallic instruments and thus, can be utilized together with the images from normal transducer power levels to enhance the separability between instrument and tissue, improving intraoperative instrument tracking accuracy from the acquired noisy ultrasound volumetric images. We performed experiments in phantoms and ex vivo hearts in water tank environments. The proposed multi-level power-varying ultrasound imaging approach can identify robotic instruments of high acoustic impedance from low-signal-to-noise-ratio ultrasound images by power adjustments.

Spatial Angular Compounding Technique for H-Scan Ultrasound Imaging.

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Khairalseed, Mawia; Xiong, Fangyuan; Kim, Jung-Whan; Mattrey, Robert F; Parker, Kevin J; Hoyt, Kenneth

2018-01-01

H-Scan is a new ultrasound imaging technique that relies on matching a model of pulse-echo formation to the mathematics of a class of Gaussian-weighted Hermite polynomials. This technique may be beneficial in the measurement of relative scatterer sizes and in cancer therapy, particularly for early response to drug treatment. Because current H-scan techniques use focused ultrasound data acquisitions, spatial resolution degrades away from the focal region and inherently affects relative scatterer size estimation. Although the resolution of ultrasound plane wave imaging can be inferior to that of traditional focused ultrasound approaches, the former exhibits a homogeneous spatial resolution throughout the image plane. The purpose of this study was to implement H-scan using plane wave imaging and investigate the impact of spatial angular compounding on H-scan image quality. Parallel convolution filters using two different Gaussian-weighted Hermite polynomials that describe ultrasound scattering events are applied to the radiofrequency data. The H-scan processing is done on each radiofrequency image plane before averaging to get the angular compounded image. The relative strength from each convolution is color-coded to represent relative scatterer size. Given results from a series of phantom materials, H-scan imaging with spatial angular compounding more accurately reflects the true scatterer size caused by reductions in the system point spread function and improved signal-to-noise ratio. Preliminary in vivo H-scan imaging of tumor-bearing animals suggests this modality may be useful for monitoring early response to chemotherapeutic treatment. Overall, H-scan imaging using ultrasound plane waves and spatial angular compounding is a promising approach for visualizing the relative size and distribution of acoustic scattering sources. Copyright © 2018 World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Ultrasound

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Ultrasound is a useful procedure for monitoring the baby's development in the uterus. Ultrasound uses inaudible sound waves to produce a two-dimensional image of the baby while inside the mother's ...

Ultrasound -- Pelvis

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Full Text Available ... transducer sends out high-frequency sound waves (that the human ear cannot hear) into the body and then ... ultrasound , there are no known harmful effects on humans. top of page What are the limitations of Pelvic Ultrasound Imaging? Ultrasound waves are ...

Erectile dysfunction in the cardiovascular patient.

Science.gov (United States)

Vlachopoulos, Charalambos; Jackson, Graham; Stefanadis, Christodoulos; Montorsi, Piero

2013-07-01

Erectile dysfunction is common in the patient with cardiovascular disease. It is an important component of the quality of life and it also confers an independent risk for future cardiovascular events. The usual 3-year time period between the onset of erectile dysfunction symptoms and a cardiovascular event offers an opportunity for risk mitigation. Thus, sexual function should be incorporated into cardiovascular disease risk assessment for all men. A comprehensive approach to cardiovascular risk reduction (comprising of both lifestyle changes and pharmacological treatment) improves overall vascular health, including sexual function. Proper sexual counselling improves the quality of life and increases adherence to medication. This review explores the critical connection between erectile dysfunction and cardiovascular disease and evaluates how this relationship may influence clinical practice. Algorithms for the management of patient with erectile dysfunction according to the risk for sexual activity and future cardiovascular events are proposed.

Nutrition and Cardiovascular Disease: Finding the Perfect Recipe for Cardiovascular Health

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alice Ravera

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The increasing burden of cardiovascular disease (CVD despite the progress in management entails the need of more effective preventive and curative strategies. As dietary-associated risk is the most important behavioral factor influencing global health, it appears the best target in the challenge against CVD. Although for many years, since the formulation of the cholesterol hypothesis, a nutrient-based approach was attempted for CVD prevention and treatment, in recent years a dietary-based approach resulted more effective in reducing cardiovascular risk worldwide. After the publication of randomized trials on the remarkable effects of the Mediterranean diet and the Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension (DASH diet on CVD, new efforts were put on research about the effects of complex dietary interventions on CVD. The purpose of this paper is to review the evidence on dietary interventions in the prevention and disease modification of CVD, focusing on coronary artery disease and heart failure, the main disease responsible for the enormous toll taken by CVD worldwide.

Ultrasound-controlled neuronavigator-guided brain surgery.

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Koivukangas, J; Louhisalmi, Y; Alakuijala, J; Oikarinen, J

1993-07-01

The development of a unique neurosurgical navigator is described and a preliminary series of seven cases of intracerebral lesions approached with the assistance of this neuronavigation system under ultrasound control is presented. The clinical series included five low-grade astrocytomas, one chronic intracerebral hematoma, and one porencephalic cyst. Management procedures included biopsy in all cases, drainage of the hematoma, and endoscopy and fenestration for the cyst. The features of the neuronavigation system are interactive reconstructions of preoperative computerized tomography and magnetic resonance imaging data, corresponding intraoperative ultrasound images, versatility of the interchangeable end-effector instruments, graphic presentation of instruments on the reconstructed images, and voice control of the system. The principle of a common axis in the reconstructed images served to align the navigational pointer, biopsy guide, endoscope guide, ultrasound transducer, and surgical microscope to the brain anatomy. Intraoperative ultrasound imaging helped to verify the accuracy of the neuronavigator and check the results of the procedures. The arm of the neuronavigation system served as a holder for instruments, such as the biopsy guide, endoscope guide, and ultrasound transducer, in addition to functioning as a navigational pointer. Also, the surgical microscope was aligned with the neuronavigator for inspection and biopsy of the hematoma capsule to rule out tumor etiology. Voice control freed the neurosurgeon from manual exercises during start-up and calibration of the system.

Cognitive load predicts point-of-care ultrasound simulator performance.

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Aldekhyl, Sara; Cavalcanti, Rodrigo B; Naismith, Laura M

2018-02-01

The ability to maintain good performance with low cognitive load is an important marker of expertise. Incorporating cognitive load measurements in the context of simulation training may help to inform judgements of competence. This exploratory study investigated relationships between demographic markers of expertise, cognitive load measures, and simulator performance in the context of point-of-care ultrasonography. Twenty-nine medical trainees and clinicians at the University of Toronto with a range of clinical ultrasound experience were recruited. Participants answered a demographic questionnaire then used an ultrasound simulator to perform targeted scanning tasks based on clinical vignettes. Participants were scored on their ability to both acquire and interpret ultrasound images. Cognitive load measures included participant self-report, eye-based physiological indices, and behavioural measures. Data were analyzed using a multilevel linear modelling approach, wherein observations were clustered by participants. Experienced participants outperformed novice participants on ultrasound image acquisition. Ultrasound image interpretation was comparable between the two groups. Ultrasound image acquisition performance was predicted by level of training, prior ultrasound training, and cognitive load. There was significant convergence between cognitive load measurement techniques. A marginal model of ultrasound image acquisition performance including prior ultrasound training and cognitive load as fixed effects provided the best overall fit for the observed data. In this proof-of-principle study, the combination of demographic and cognitive load measures provided more sensitive metrics to predict ultrasound simulator performance. Performance assessments which include cognitive load can help differentiate between levels of expertise in simulation environments, and may serve as better predictors of skill transfer to clinical practice.

Qingdao Port Cardiovascular Health Study: a prospective cohort study.

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Spatz, Erica S; Jiang, Xianyan; Lu, Jiapeng; Masoudi, Frederick A; Spertus, John A; Wang, Yongfei; Li, Xi; Downing, Nicholas S; Nasir, Khurram; Du, Xue; Li, Jing; Krumholz, Harlan M; Liu, Xiancheng; Jiang, Lixin

2015-12-09

In China, efforts are underway to respond to rapidly increasing rates of heart disease and stroke. Yet the epidemiology of cardiovascular disease in China may be different from that of other populations. Thus, there is a critical need for population-based studies that provide insight into the risk factors, incidence and outcomes of cardiovascular disease in China. The Qingdao Port Cardiovascular Health Study is designed to investigate the burden of cardiovascular disease and the sociodemographic, biological, environmental and clinical risk factors associated with disease onset and outcomes. For this study, from 2000 through 2013, 32,404 employees aged 18 years or older were recruited from the Qingdao Port Group in China, contributing 221,923 annual health assessments. The mean age at recruitment was 43.4 (SD=12.9); 79% were male. In this ongoing study, annual health assessments, governed by extensive quality control mechanisms, include a questionnaire (capturing demographic and employment information, medical history, medication use, health behaviours and health outcomes), physical examination, ECG, and blood and urine analysis. Additional non-annual assessments include an X-ray, echocardiogram and carotid ultrasound; bio-samples will be collected for future genetic and proteomic analyses. Cardiovascular outcomes are accessed via self-report and are actively being verified with medical insurance claims; efforts are underway to adjudicate outcomes with hospital medical records. Early findings reveal a significant increase in cardiovascular risk factors from 2000 to 2010 (hypertension: 26.4-39.4%; diabetes: 3.3-8.9%; hyperlipidaemia: 5.0-33.6%; body mass index >28 m/kg(2): 14.1-18.6%). We aim to generate novel insights about the epidemiology and outcomes of cardiovascular disease in China, with specific emphasis on the potentially unique risk factor profiles of this Chinese population. Knowledge generated will be disseminated in the peer-reviewed literature, and will

Qingdao Port Cardiovascular Health Study: a prospective cohort study

Science.gov (United States)

Spatz, Erica S; Jiang, Xianyan; Lu, Jiapeng; Masoudi, Frederick A; Spertus, John A; Wang, Yongfei; Li, Xi; Downing, Nicholas S; Nasir, Khurram; Du, Xue; Li, Jing; Krumholz, Harlan M; Liu, Xiancheng; Jiang, Lixin

2015-01-01

Purpose In China, efforts are underway to respond to rapidly increasing rates of heart disease and stroke. Yet the epidemiology of cardiovascular disease in China may be different from that of other populations. Thus, there is a critical need for population-based studies that provide insight into the risk factors, incidence and outcomes of cardiovascular disease in China. The Qingdao Port Cardiovascular Health Study is designed to investigate the burden of cardiovascular disease and the sociodemographic, biological, environmental and clinical risk factors associated with disease onset and outcomes. Participants For this study, from 2000 through 2013, 32 404 employees aged 18 years or older were recruited from the Qingdao Port Group in China, contributing 221 923 annual health assessments. The mean age at recruitment was 43.4 (SD=12.9); 79% were male. In this ongoing study, annual health assessments, governed by extensive quality control mechanisms, include a questionnaire (capturing demographic and employment information, medical history, medication use, health behaviours and health outcomes), physical examination, ECG, and blood and urine analysis. Additional non-annual assessments include an X-ray, echocardiogram and carotid ultrasound; bio-samples will be collected for future genetic and proteomic analyses. Cardiovascular outcomes are accessed via self-report and are actively being verified with medical insurance claims; efforts are underway to adjudicate outcomes with hospital medical records. Findings to date Early findings reveal a significant increase in cardiovascular risk factors from 2000 to 2010 (hypertension: 26.4–39.4%; diabetes: 3.3–8.9%; hyperlipidaemia: 5.0–33.6%; body mass index >28 m/kg2: 14.1–18.6%). Future Plans We aim to generate novel insights about the epidemiology and outcomes of cardiovascular disease in China, with specific emphasis on the potentially unique risk factor profiles of this Chinese population. Knowledge

12th WINFOCUS world congress on ultrasound in emergency and critical care.

Science.gov (United States)

Acar, Yahya; Tezel, Onur; Salman, Necati; Cevik, Erdem; Algaba-Montes, Margarita; Oviedo-García, Alberto; Patricio-Bordomás, Mayra; Mahmoud, Mustafa Z; Sulieman, Abdelmoneim; Ali, Abbas; Mustafa, Alrayah; Abdelrahman, Ihab; Bahar, Mustafa; Ali, Osama; Lester Kirchner, H; Prosen, Gregor; Anzic, Ajda; Leeson, Paul; Bahreini, Maryam; Rasooli, Fatemeh; Hosseinnejad, Houman; Blecher, Gabriel; Meek, Robert; Egerton-Warburton, Diana; Ćuti, Edina Ćatić; Belina, Stanko; Vančina, Tihomir; Kovačević, Idriz; Rustemović, Nadan; Chang, Ikwan; Lee, Jin Hee; Kwak, Young Ho; Kim, Do Kyun; Cheng, Chi-Yung; Pan, Hsiu-Yung; Kung, Chia-Te; Ćurčić, Ela; Pritišanac, Ena; Planinc, Ivo; Medić, Marijana Grgić; Radonić, Radovan; Fasina, Abiola; Dean, Anthony J; Panebianco, Nova L; Henwood, Patricia S; Fochi, Oliviero; Favarato, Moreno; Bonanomi, Ezio; Tomić, Ivan; Ha, Youngrock; Toh, Hongchuen; Harmon, Elizabeth; Chan, Wilma; Baston, Cameron; Morrison, Gail; Shofer, Frances; Hua, Angela; Kim, Sharon; Tsung, James; Gunaydin, Isa; Kekec, Zeynep; Ay, Mehmet Oguzhan; Kim, Jinjoo; Kim, Jinhyun; Choi, Gyoosung; Shim, Dowon; Lee, Ji-Han; Ambrozic, Jana; Prokselj, Katja; Lucovnik, Miha; Simenc, Gabrijela Brzan; Mačiulienė, Asta; Maleckas, Almantas; Kriščiukaitis, Algimantas; Mačiulis, Vytautas; Macas, Andrius; Mohite, Sharad; Narancsik, Zoltan; Možina, Hugon; Nikolić, Sara; Hansel, Jan; Petrovčič, Rok; Mršić, Una; Orlob, Simon; Lerchbaumer, Markus; Schönegger, Niklas; Kaufmann, Reinhard; Pan, Chun-I; Wu, Chien-Hung; Pasquale, Sarah; Doniger, Stephanie J; Yellin, Sharon; Chiricolo, Gerardo; Potisek, Maja; Drnovšek, Borut; Leskovar, Boštjan; Robinson, Kristine; Kraft, Clara; Moser, Benjamin; Davis, Stephen; Layman, Shelley; Sayeed, Yusef; Minardi, Joseph; Pasic, Irmina Sefic; Dzananovic, Amra; Pasic, Anes; Zubovic, Sandra Vegar; Hauptman, Ana Godan; Brajkovic, Ana Vujaklija; Babel, Jaksa; Peklic, Marina; Radonic, Vedran; Bielen, Luka; Ming, Peh Wee; Yezid, Nur Hafiza; Mohammed, Fatahul Laham; Huda, Zainal Abidin; Ismail, Wan Nasarudin Wan; Isa, W Yus Haniff W; Fauzi, Hashairi; Seeva, Praveena; Mazlan, Mohd Zulfakar

2016-09-01

A1 Point-of-care ultrasound examination of cervical spine in emergency departmentYahya Acar, Onur Tezel, Necati SalmanA2 A new technique in verifying the placement of a nasogastric tube: obtaining the longitudinal view of nasogastric tube in addition to transverse view with ultrasoundYahya Acar, Necati Salman, Onur Tezel, Erdem CevikA3 Pseudoaneurysm of the femoral artery after cannulation of a central venous line. Should we always use ultrasound in these procedures?Margarita Algaba-Montes, Alberto Oviedo-García, Mayra Patricio-BordomásA4 Ultrasound-guided supraclavicular subclavian vein catheterization. A novel approach in emergency departmentMargarita Algaba-Montes, Alberto Oviedo-García, Mayra Patricio-BordomásA5 Clinical ultrasound in a septic and jaundice patient in the emergency departmentMargarita Algaba-Montes, Alberto Oviedo-García, Mayra Patricio-BordomásA6 Characterization of the eyes in preoperative cataract Saudi patients by using medical diagnostic ultrasoundMustafa Z. Mahmoud, Abdelmoneim SuliemanA7 High-frequency ultrasound in determining the causes of acute shoulder joint painMustafa Z. MahmoudA8 Teaching WINFOCUS Ultrasound Life Support Basic Level 1 for Providers in resource-limited countriesAbbas Ali, Alrayah Mustafa, Ihab Abdelrahman, Mustafa Bahar, Osama Ali, H. Lester Kirchner, Gregor ProsenA9 Changes of arterial stiffness and endothelial function during uncomplicated pregnancyAjda Anzic, Paul LeesonA10 Cardiovascular haemodynamic properties before, during and after pregnancyAjda Anzic, Paul LeesonA11 An old man with generalized weaknessMaryam Bahreini, Fatemeh RasooliA12 Ultrasonography for non-specific presentations of abdominal painMaryam Bahreini, Houman HosseinnejadA13 Introduction of a new imaging guideline for suspected renal colic in the emergency department: effect on CT Urogram utilisationGabriel Blecher, Robert Meek, Diana Egerton-WarburtonA14 Transabdominal ultrasound screening for pancreatic cancer in Croatian military

[Ultrasound guided percutaneous nephrolithotripsy].

Science.gov (United States)

Guliev, B G

2014-01-01

The study was aimed to the evaluation of the effectiveness and results of ultrasound guided percutaneous nephrolithotripsy (PNL) for the treatment of patients with large stones in renal pelvis. The results of PNL in 138 patients who underwent surgery for kidney stones from 2011 to 2013 were analyzed. Seventy patients (Group 1) underwent surgery with combined ultrasound and radiological guidance, and 68 patients (Group 2)--only with ultrasound guidance. The study included patients with large renal pelvic stones larger than 2.2 cm, requiring the formation of a single laparoscopic approach. Using the comparative analysis, the timing of surgery, the number of intra- and postoperative complications, blood loss and length of stay were evaluated. Percutaneous access was successfully performed in all patients. Postoperative complications (exacerbation of chronic pyelonephritis, gross hematuria) were observed in 14.3% of patients in Group 1 and in 14.7% of patients in Group 2. Bleeding requiring blood transfusion, and injuries of adjacent organs were not registered. Efficacy of PNL in the Group 1 was 95.7%; 3 (4.3%) patients required additional interventions. In Group 2, the effectiveness of PNL was 94.1%, 4 (5.9%) patients additionally underwent extracorporeal lithotripsy. There were no significant differences in the effectiveness of PNL, the volume of blood loss and duration of hospitalization. Ultrasound guided PNL can be performed in large pelvic stones and sufficient expansion of renal cavities, thus reducing radiation exposure of patients and medical staff.

Scoring ultrasound synovitis in rheumatoid arthritis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

D'Agostino, Maria-Antonietta; Terslev, Lene; Aegerter, Philippe

2017-01-01

OBJECTIVES: To develop a consensus-based ultrasound (US) definition and quantification system for synovitis in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). METHODS: A multistep, iterative approach was used to: (1) evaluate the baseline agreement on defining and scoring synovitis according to the usual practice...

Precision Medicine and a Patient-Orientated Approach: Is this the Future for Tracking Cardiovascular Disorders?

Science.gov (United States)

Pretorius, Etheresia

2017-01-01

The latest statistics from the 2016 heart disease and stroke statistics update shows that cardiovascular disease is the leading global cause of death, currently accounting for more than 17.3 million deaths per year. Type II diabetes is also on the rise with out-of-control numbers. To address these pandemics, we need to treat patients using an individualized patient care approach, but simultaneously gather data to support the precision medicine initiative. Last year the NIH announced the precision medicine initiative to generate novel knowledge regarding diseases, with a near-term focus on cancers, followed by a longer-term aim, applicable to a whole range of health applications and diseases. The focus of this paper is to suggest a combined effort between the latest precision medicine initiative, researchers and clinicians; whereby novel techniques could immediately make a difference in patient care, but long-term add to knowledge for use in precision medicine. We discuss the intricate relationship between individualized patient care and precision medicine and the current thoughts regarding which data is actually suitable for the precision medicine data gathering. The uses of viscoelastic techniques in precision medicine are discussed and how these techniques might give novel perspectives on the success of treatment regimes of cardiovascular patients are explored. Thrombo-embolic stroke, rheumathoid arthritis and type II diabetes are used as examples of diseases where precision medicine and a patient-orientated approach can possibly be implemented. In conclusion it is suggested that if all role players work together by embracing a new way of thought in treating and managing cardiovascular disease and diabetes will we be able to adequately address these out-ofcontrol conditions. Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.org.

What role does rheumatoid arthritis disease activity have in cardiovascular risk.

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Ramírez Huaranga, Marco Aurelio; Mínguez Sanchez, María Dolores; Zarca Diaz de la Espina, Miguel Ángel; Espinosa Prados, Pedro José; Romero Aguilera, Guillermo

2017-04-21

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is associated with a 1.3 to 3-fold increase in mortality, being the major cause of death from cardiovascular complications (40%-50%). Therefore, the initial approach should include cardiovascular risk (CVR) assessment using algorithms adapted for this population. Although, SCOREM is an important advance, there are data indicating that subclinical atherosclerosis may be underdiagnosed. To estimate the strength of association between carotid ultrasound and SCOREM in this population, as well as the implication of disease activity. Cross-sectional, observational, analytical study performed at the General Hospital of Ciudad Real, Spain, between June 2013 and May 2014. The evaluation of CVR was performed and, according to SCOREM, the population was divided into low and high (medium, high and very high) risk. We studied the presence of subclinical atherosclerosis in low-risk patients. Of the total of 119 RA patients, 73.1% had traditional risk factors. Thirty-eight patients were excluded because of a previous cardiovascular event, diabetes mellitus and/or nephropathy. Atheromatous plaque was observed in 14.63% of the low-risk population. The factor with the strongest association to the presence of subclinical atherosclerosis was a moderate or high activity of RA measured by the simplified disease activity index with an odds ratio of 4.95 (95% CI: 1.53-16.01). Although there was an acceptable correlation between the presence of subclinical atherosclerosis and SCOREM, there was a considerable proportion of atheromatous plaques in low-risk patients. Disease activity was the risk factor most closely associated with increased CVR. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier España, S.L.U. and Sociedad Española de Reumatología y Colegio Mexicano de Reumatología. All rights reserved.

Externally Delivered Focused Ultrasound for Renal Denervation.

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Neuzil, Petr; Ormiston, John; Brinton, Todd J; Starek, Zdenek; Esler, Murray; Dawood, Omar; Anderson, Thomas L; Gertner, Michael; Whitbourne, Rob; Schmieder, Roland E

2016-06-27

The aim of this study was to assess clinical safety and efficacy outcomes of renal denervation executed by an externally delivered, completely noninvasive focused therapeutic ultrasound device. Renal denervation has emerged as a potential treatment approach for resistant hypertension. Sixty-nine subjects received renal denervation with externally delivered focused ultrasound via the Kona Medical Surround Sound System. This approach was investigated across 3 consecutive studies to optimize targeting, tracking, and dosing. In the third study, treatments were performed in a completely noninvasive way using duplex ultrasound image guidance to target the therapy. Short- and long-term safety and efficacy were evaluated through use of clinical assessments, magnetic resonance imaging scans prior to and 3 and 24 weeks after renal denervation, and, in cases in which a targeting catheter was used to facilitate targeting, fluoroscopic angiography with contrast. All patients tolerated renal denervation using externally delivered focused ultrasound. Office blood pressure (BP) decreased by 24.6 ± 27.6/9.0 ± 15.0 mm Hg (from baseline BP of 180.0 ± 18.5/97.7 ± 13.7 mm Hg) in 69 patients after 6 months and 23.8 ± 24.1/10.3 ± 13.1 mm Hg in 64 patients with complete 1-year follow-up. The response rate (BP decrease >10 mm Hg) was 75% after 6 months and 77% after 1 year. The most common adverse event was post-treatment back pain, which was reported in 32 of 69 patients and resolved within 72 h in most cases. No intervention-related adverse events involving motor or sensory deficits were reported. Renal function was not altered, and vascular safety was established by magnetic resonance imaging (all patients), fluoroscopic angiography (n = 48), and optical coherence tomography (n = 5). Using externally delivered focused ultrasound and noninvasive duplex ultrasound, image-guided targeting was associated with substantial BP reduction without any major safety signals. Further

Creation of a High-fidelity, Low-cost Pediatric Skull Fracture Ultrasound Phantom.

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Soucy, Zachary P; Mills, Lisa; Rose, John S; Kelley, Kenneth; Ramirez, Francisco; Kuppermann, Nathan

2015-08-01

Over the past decade, point-of-care ultrasound has become a common tool used for both procedures and diagnosis. Developing high-fidelity phantoms is critical for training in new and novel point-of-care ultrasound applications. Detecting skull fractures on ultrasound imaging in the younger-than-2-year-old patient is an emerging area of point-of-care ultrasound research. Identifying a skull fracture on ultrasound imaging in this age group requires knowledge of the appearance and location of sutures to distinguish them from fractures. There are currently no commercially available pediatric skull fracture models. We outline a novel approach to building a cost-effective, simple, high-fidelity pediatric skull fracture phantom to meet a unique training requirement. © 2015 by the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine.

Usefulness of ultrasound-guided mammotome biopsy for microcalcification

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Kim, You Me [Dankook University Hospital, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Park, Hee Boong [Park Breast Clinic, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Ryu, Jin Woo [Cheonan Choongmu Hospital, Cheonan (Korea, Republic of)

2005-08-15

To evaluate the usefulness of ultrasound-guided mammotome biopsy for microcalcification and to suggest a new approach for the localization of microcalcifications which are not detected on ultrasound. Twenty-one calcific lesions in 21 women (aged 33-56 years) underwent ultrasound-guided, vacuum-assisted, mammotome biopsy and a mean of 14 specimens per lesion were obtained. Calcification retrieval was defined as identification of calcifications on specimen radiographs. In the 13 cases of calcifications which were not detected on ultrasound imaging, mammotome biopsy was performed after localization of one or two needles at the microcalcifications under mammography-guidance. Radiographs of the specimens and histologic findings were reviewed and scheduled follow-up imaging was performed for evaluation of the complications of biopsy. Ultrasound-guided, vacuum-assisted, mammotome biopsy removed all calcifications in 21 lesions. Eight (38%) lesions showed visible calcification on the ultrasound while 13 (62%) lesions were invisible, which underwent mammotome biopsy after needle localization under mammography-guidance. Surgery revealed DCIS in 1 (4.8%) of 21 lesions, infiltrating ductal carcinoma in two (9.5%), fibroadenomas with calcifications in 6 (28.6%), fibroadenmas with adenosis in 2(9.5%), and fibrocystic change with calcifications in 10 (47.6%). Clinical significant complications did not occur on follow-up examination in any of the cases. Ultrasound-guided, vacuum-assisted, mammotome biopsy was an effective method for microcalcifications on mammogram. The results suggested that mammotome biopsy after mammogram-guided, needle localization is a good alternative method for the diagnosis of microcalcifications which are undetectable in the ultrasound images.

Usefulness of ultrasound-guided mammotome biopsy for microcalcification

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, You Me; Park, Hee Boong; Ryu, Jin Woo

2005-01-01

To evaluate the usefulness of ultrasound-guided mammotome biopsy for microcalcification and to suggest a new approach for the localization of microcalcifications which are not detected on ultrasound. Twenty-one calcific lesions in 21 women (aged 33-56 years) underwent ultrasound-guided, vacuum-assisted, mammotome biopsy and a mean of 14 specimens per lesion were obtained. Calcification retrieval was defined as identification of calcifications on specimen radiographs. In the 13 cases of calcifications which were not detected on ultrasound imaging, mammotome biopsy was performed after localization of one or two needles at the microcalcifications under mammography-guidance. Radiographs of the specimens and histologic findings were reviewed and scheduled follow-up imaging was performed for evaluation of the complications of biopsy. Ultrasound-guided, vacuum-assisted, mammotome biopsy removed all calcifications in 21 lesions. Eight (38%) lesions showed visible calcification on the ultrasound while 13 (62%) lesions were invisible, which underwent mammotome biopsy after needle localization under mammography-guidance. Surgery revealed DCIS in 1 (4.8%) of 21 lesions, infiltrating ductal carcinoma in two (9.5%), fibroadenomas with calcifications in 6 (28.6%), fibroadenmas with adenosis in 2(9.5%), and fibrocystic change with calcifications in 10 (47.6%). Clinical significant complications did not occur on follow-up examination in any of the cases. Ultrasound-guided, vacuum-assisted, mammotome biopsy was an effective method for microcalcifications on mammogram. The results suggested that mammotome biopsy after mammogram-guided, needle localization is a good alternative method for the diagnosis of microcalcifications which are undetectable in the ultrasound images

Transvaginal Ultrasound-Guided Biopsy of Deep Pelvic Masses: How We Do It.

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Plett, Sara K; Poder, Liina; Brooks, Rebecca A; Morgan, Tara A

2016-06-01

The purpose of this review is to discuss the rationale and indications for transvaginal ultrasound-guided biopsy. Transvaginal ultrasound-guided biopsy can be a helpful tool for diagnosis and treatment planning in the evaluation of pelvic masses, particularly when the anatomy precludes a transabdominal or posterior transgluteal percutaneous biopsy approach. A step-by-step summary of the technique with preprocedure and postprocedure considerations is included. © 2016 by the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine.

A comparison of complications between ultrasound-guided prostate brachytherapy and open prostate brachytherapy

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Benoit, Ronald M.; Naslund, Michael J.; Cohen, Jeffrey K.

2000-01-01

Purpose: Prostate brachytherapy has reemerged during the 1990s as a treatment for clinically localized prostate cancer. The renewed popularity of prostate brachytherapy is largely due to the use of transrectal ultrasound of the prostate, which allows for more accurate isotope placement within the prostate when compared to the open approach. The present study investigates whether this improved cancer control is at the expense of increased morbidity by comparing the morbidity after transrectal ultrasound-guided prostate brachytherapy to the morbidity after prostate brachytherapy performed via an open approach. Methods and Materials: All men in the Medicare population who underwent prostate brachytherapy in the year 1991 were identified. These men were further stratified into those men who underwent prostate brachytherapy via an open approach and the men who underwent prostate brachytherapy with ultrasound guidance. All subsequent inpatient, outpatient, and physician (Part B) Medicare claims for these men from the years 1991-1993 were then analyzed to determine outcomes. Results: In the year 1991, 2124 men in the Medicare population underwent prostate brachytherapy. An open approach was used in 715 men (33.7%), and ultrasound guidance was used in 1409 men (66.3%). Mean age for both cohorts was 73.7 years with a range of 50.7-92.8 years for the ultrasound group and 60.6-92.1 years for the open group. A surgical procedure for the relief of bladder outlet obstruction was performed in 122 men (8.6%) in the ultrasound group and in 54 men (7.6%) in the open group. An artificial urinary sphincter was placed in 2 men (0.14%) in the ultrasound group and in 2 men (0.28%) in the open group. A penile prosthesis was implanted in 10 men (0.71%) in the ultrasound group and in 4 men (0.56%) in the open group. A diagnosis code for urinary incontinence was carried by 95 men (6.7%) in the ultrasound group and by 45 men (6.3%) in the open group. A diagnosis code for erectile dysfunction

Ultrasound elastographic techniques in focal liver lesions.

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Conti, Clara Benedetta; Cavalcoli, Federica; Fraquelli, Mirella; Conte, Dario; Massironi, Sara

2016-03-07

Elastographic techniques are new ultrasound-based imaging techniques developed to estimate tissue deformability/stiffness. Several ultrasound elastographic approaches have been developed, such as static elastography, transient elastography and acoustic radiation force imaging methods, which include point shear wave and shear wave imaging elastography. The application of these methods in clinical practice aims at estimating the mechanical tissues properties. One of the main settings for the application of these tools has been liver stiffness assessment in chronic liver disease, which has been studied mainly using transient elastography. Another field of application for these techniques is the assessment of focal lesions, detected by ultrasound in organs such as pancreas, prostate, breast, thyroid, lymph nodes. Considering the frequency and importance of the detection of focal liver lesions through routine ultrasound, some studies have also aimed to assess the role that elestography can play in studying the stiffness of different types of liver lesions, in order to predict their nature and thus offer valuable non-invasive methods for the diagnosis of liver masses.

Therapeutical approach to plasma homocysteine and cardiovascular risk reduction

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Marcello Ciaccio

2008-03-01

Full Text Available Marcello Ciaccio, Giulia Bivona, Chiara BelliaDepartment of Medical Biotechnologies and Forensic Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Palermo, ItalyAbstract: Homocysteine is a sulfur-containing aminoacid produced during metabolism of methionine. Since 1969 the relationship between altered homocysteine metabolism and both coronary and peripheral atherotrombosis is known; in recent years experimental evidences have shown that elevated plasma levels of homocysteine are associated with an increased risk of atherosclerosis and cardiovascular ischemic events. Several mechanisms by which elevated homocysteine impairs vascular function have been proposed, including impairment of endothelial function, production of reactive oxygen species (ROS and consequent oxidation of low-density lipids. Endothelial function is altered in subjects with hyperhomocysteinemia, and endothelial dysfunction is correlated with plasma levels of homocysteine. Folic acid and B vitamins, required for remethylation of homocysteine to methionine, are the most important dietary determinants of homocysteine and daily supplementation typically lowers plasma homocysteine levels; it is still unclear whether the decreased plasma levels of homocysteine through diet or drugs may be paralleled by a reduction in cardiovascular risk.Keywords: homocysteine, MTHFR, cardiovascular disease, folate, B vitamin

Impact of point-of-care ultrasound on quality of care in clinical practice

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Adhikari S

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Srikar Adhikari,1 Richard Amini,1 Lori A Stolz,1 Michael Blaivas2 1Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Arizona Medical Center, Tucson, AZ, 2Department of Internal Medicine, University of South Carolina School of Medicine, Columbia, SC, USA Abstract: The use of point-of-care (POC ultrasonography has rapidly expanded in recent years, in both academic and community settings. It is one of the few diagnostic modalities that can be performed rapidly at the bedside by a physician and has significant impact on patient outcomes. It is portable, readily accessible, and cost-effective, and has no risk of ionizing radiation. There is an abundance of evidence that supports the use of POC ultrasound by physicians in different subspecialties. Multiple studies have documented the diagnostic accuracy of POC ultrasound and its ability to decrease the time to definitive treatment. As ultrasound technology has advanced, POC ultrasound applications have also evolved from being used solely in patients with blunt abdominal trauma to applications for nearly every clinical scenario imaginable. From performing procedures more safely to diagnosing pathology more quickly, POC ultrasound is radically changing clinical practice, patient outcomes, and the overall quality of patient care a clinician can provide. Recently, there has been a paradigm shift involving a symptom-based approach to POC ultrasound. This unique symptom-based ultrasound approach has led to improved quality of care in a variety of clinical settings. Keywords: point-of-care ultrasound, ultrasonography, bedside ultrasound, emergency physician, emergency department, quality, symptom-based

Optimal healing environments for chronic cardiovascular disease.

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Marshall, Debra A; Walizer, Elaine; Vernalis, Marina N

2004-01-01

A substantial increase in chronic cardiovascular disease is projected for the next several decades. This is attributable to an aging population and accelerated rates of obesity and diabetes. Despite technological advances that have improved survival for acute events, there is suboptimal translation of research knowledge for prevention and treatment of chronic cardiovascular illness. Beginning with a brief review of the demographics and pathogenesis of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, this paper discusses the obstacles and approaches to optimal care of patients with chronic cardiovascular disease. The novel concept of an optimal healing environment (OHE) is defined and explored as a model for integrative cardiac health care. Aspects generally underexamined in cardiac care such as intrapersonal/interpersonal characteristics of the health care provider and patient, mind/body/spirit wholeness and healing versus curing are discussed, as is the impact psychosocial factors may have on atherosclerosis and cardiovascular health. Information from research on the impact of an OHE might renew the healing mission in medicine, reveal new approaches for healing the heart and establish the importance of a heart-mind-body connection.

Actuator-Assisted Calibration of Freehand 3D Ultrasound System.

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Koo, Terry K; Silvia, Nathaniel

2018-01-01

Freehand three-dimensional (3D) ultrasound has been used independently of other technologies to analyze complex geometries or registered with other imaging modalities to aid surgical and radiotherapy planning. A fundamental requirement for all freehand 3D ultrasound systems is probe calibration. The purpose of this study was to develop an actuator-assisted approach to facilitate freehand 3D ultrasound calibration using point-based phantoms. We modified the mathematical formulation of the calibration problem to eliminate the need of imaging the point targets at different viewing angles and developed an actuator-assisted approach/setup to facilitate quick and consistent collection of point targets spanning the entire image field of view. The actuator-assisted approach was applied to a commonly used cross wire phantom as well as two custom-made point-based phantoms (original and modified), each containing 7 collinear point targets, and compared the results with the traditional freehand cross wire phantom calibration in terms of calibration reproducibility, point reconstruction precision, point reconstruction accuracy, distance reconstruction accuracy, and data acquisition time. Results demonstrated that the actuator-assisted single cross wire phantom calibration significantly improved the calibration reproducibility and offered similar point reconstruction precision, point reconstruction accuracy, distance reconstruction accuracy, and data acquisition time with respect to the freehand cross wire phantom calibration. On the other hand, the actuator-assisted modified "collinear point target" phantom calibration offered similar precision and accuracy when compared to the freehand cross wire phantom calibration, but it reduced the data acquisition time by 57%. It appears that both actuator-assisted cross wire phantom and modified collinear point target phantom calibration approaches are viable options for freehand 3D ultrasound calibration.

Pharmacologic Approaches Against Advanced Glycation End Products (AGEs) in Diabetic Cardiovascular Disease.

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Nenna, Antonio; Nappi, Francesco; Avtaar Singh, Sanjeet Singh; Sutherland, Fraser W; Di Domenico, Fabio; Chello, Massimo; Spadaccio, Cristiano

2015-05-01

Advanced Glycation End-Products (AGEs) are signaling proteins associated to several vascular and neurological complications in diabetic and non-diabetic patients. AGEs proved to be a marker of negative outcome in both diabetes management and surgical procedures in these patients. The reported role of AGEs prompted the development of pharmacological inhibitors of their effects, giving rise to a number of both preclinical and clinical studies. Clinical trials with anti-AGEs drugs have been gradually developed and this review aimed to summarize most relevant reports. Evidence acquisition process was performed using PubMed and ClinicalTrials.gov with manually checked articles. Pharmacological approaches in humans include aminoguanidine, pyridoxamine, benfotiamine, angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors, angiotensin receptor blockers, statin, ALT-711 (alagebrium) and thiazolidinediones. The most recent promising anti-AGEs agents are statins, alagebrium and thiazolidinediones. The role of AGEs in disease and new compounds interfering with their effects are currently under investigation in preclinical settings and these newer anti-AGEs drugs would undergo clinical evaluation in the next years. Compounds with anti-AGEs activity but still not available for clinical scenarios are ALT-946, OPB-9195, tenilsetam, LR-90, TM2002, sRAGE and PEDF. Despite most studies confirm the efficacy of these pharmacological approaches, other reports produced conflicting evidences; in almost any case, these drugs were well tolerated. At present, AGEs measurement has still not taken a precise role in clinical practice, but its relevance as a marker of disease has been widely shown; therefore, it is important for clinicians to understand the value of new cardiovascular risk factors. Findings from the current and future clinical trials may help in determining the role of AGEs and the benefits of anti-AGEs treatment in cardiovascular disease.

Effects of artificial gravity on the cardiovascular system: Computational approach

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Diaz Artiles, Ana; Heldt, Thomas; Young, Laurence R.

2016-09-01

Artificial gravity has been suggested as a multisystem countermeasure against the negative effects of weightlessness. However, many questions regarding the appropriate configuration are still unanswered, including optimal g-level, angular velocity, gravity gradient, and exercise protocol. Mathematical models can provide unique insight into these questions, particularly when experimental data is very expensive or difficult to obtain. In this research effort, a cardiovascular lumped-parameter model is developed to simulate the short-term transient hemodynamic response to artificial gravity exposure combined with ergometer exercise, using a bicycle mounted on a short-radius centrifuge. The model is thoroughly described and preliminary simulations are conducted to show the model capabilities and potential applications. The model consists of 21 compartments (including systemic circulation, pulmonary circulation, and a cardiac model), and it also includes the rapid cardiovascular control systems (arterial baroreflex and cardiopulmonary reflex). In addition, the pressure gradient resulting from short-radius centrifugation is captured in the model using hydrostatic pressure sources located at each compartment. The model also includes the cardiovascular effects resulting from exercise such as the muscle pump effect. An initial set of artificial gravity simulations were implemented using the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Compact-Radius Centrifuge (CRC) configuration. Three centripetal acceleration (artificial gravity) levels were chosen: 1 g, 1.2 g, and 1.4 g, referenced to the subject's feet. Each simulation lasted 15.5 minutes and included a baseline period, the spin-up process, the ergometer exercise period (5 minutes of ergometer exercise at 30 W with a simulated pedal cadence of 60 RPM), and the spin-down process. Results showed that the cardiovascular model is able to predict the cardiovascular dynamics during gravity changes, as well as the expected

Segmentation of tumor ultrasound image in HIFU therapy based on texture and boundary encoding

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang, Dong; Xu, Menglong; Quan, Long; Yang, Yan; Qin, Qianqing; Zhu, Wenbin

2015-01-01

It is crucial in high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) therapy to detect the tumor precisely with less manual intervention for enhancing the therapy efficiency. Ultrasound image segmentation becomes a difficult task due to signal attenuation, speckle effect and shadows. This paper presents an unsupervised approach based on texture and boundary encoding customized for ultrasound image segmentation in HIFU therapy. The approach oversegments the ultrasound image into some small regions, which are merged by using the principle of minimum description length (MDL) afterwards. Small regions belonging to the same tumor are clustered as they preserve similar texture features. The mergence is completed by obtaining the shortest coding length from encoding textures and boundaries of these regions in the clustering process. The tumor region is finally selected from merged regions by a proposed algorithm without manual interaction. The performance of the method is tested on 50 uterine fibroid ultrasound images from HIFU guiding transducers. The segmentations are compared with manual delineations to verify its feasibility. The quantitative evaluation with HIFU images shows that the mean true positive of the approach is 93.53%, the mean false positive is 4.06%, the mean similarity is 89.92%, the mean norm Hausdorff distance is 3.62% and the mean norm maximum average distance is 0.57%. The experiments validate that the proposed method can achieve favorable segmentation without manual initialization and effectively handle the poor quality of the ultrasound guidance image in HIFU therapy, which indicates that the approach is applicable in HIFU therapy. (paper)

Ultrasound vs. Computed Tomography for Severity of Hydronephrosis and Its Importance in Renal Colic

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Megan M. Leo

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Supporting an “ultrasound-first” approach to evaluating renal colic in the emergency department (ED remains important for improving patient care and decreasing healthcare costs. Our primary objective was to compare emergency physician (EP ultrasound to computed tomography (CT detection of hydronephrosis severity in patients with suspected renal colic. We calculated test characteristics of hydronephrosis on EP-performed ultrasound for detecting ureteral stones or ureteral stone size >5mm. We then analyzed the association of hydronephrosis on EP-performed ultrasound, stone size >5mm, and proximal stone location with 30-day events. Methods: This was a prospective observational study of ED patients with suspected renal colic undergoing CT. Subjects had an EP-performed ultrasound evaluating for the severity of hydronephrosis. A chart review and follow-up phone call was performed. Results: We enrolled 302 subjects who had an EP-performed ultrasound. CT and EP ultrasound results were comparable in detecting severity of hydronephrosis ( x 2=51.7, p5mm less likely (NPV 89%; LR− 0.39. Larger stone size > 5mm was associated with 30-day events (OR 2.30, p=0.03. Conclusion: Using an ultrasound-first approach to detect hydronephrosis may help physicians identify patients with renal colic. The lack of hydronephrosis on ultrasound makes the presence of a larger ureteral stone less likely. Stone size >5mm may be a useful predictor of 30-day events.

Ultrasound vs. Computed Tomography for Severity of Hydronephrosis and Its Importance in Renal Colic.

Science.gov (United States)

Leo, Megan M; Langlois, Breanne K; Pare, Joseph R; Mitchell, Patricia; Linden, Judith; Nelson, Kerrie P; Amanti, Cristopher; Carmody, Kristin A

2017-06-01

Supporting an "ultrasound-first" approach to evaluating renal colic in the emergency department (ED) remains important for improving patient care and decreasing healthcare costs. Our primary objective was to compare emergency physician (EP) ultrasound to computed tomography (CT) detection of hydronephrosis severity in patients with suspected renal colic. We calculated test characteristics of hydronephrosis on EP-performed ultrasound for detecting ureteral stones or ureteral stone size >5mm. We then analyzed the association of hydronephrosis on EP-performed ultrasound, stone size >5mm, and proximal stone location with 30-day events. This was a prospective observational study of ED patients with suspected renal colic undergoing CT. Subjects had an EP-performed ultrasound evaluating for the severity of hydronephrosis. A chart review and follow-up phone call was performed. We enrolled 302 subjects who had an EP-performed ultrasound. CT and EP ultrasound results were comparable in detecting severity of hydronephrosis ( x 2 =51.7, pHydronephrosis on EP-performed ultrasound was predictive of a ureteral stone on CT (PPV 88%; LR+ 2.91), but lack of hydronephrosis did not rule it out (NPV 65%). Lack of hydronephrosis on EP-performed ultrasound makes larger stone size >5mm less likely (NPV 89%; LR- 0.39). Larger stone size > 5mm was associated with 30-day events (OR 2.30, p=0.03). Using an ultrasound-first approach to detect hydronephrosis may help physicians identify patients with renal colic. The lack of hydronephrosis on ultrasound makes the presence of a larger ureteral stone less likely. Stone size >5mm may be a useful predictor of 30-day events.

An automated approach for segmentation of intravascular ultrasound images based on parametric active contour models

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vard, Alireza; Jamshidi, Kamal; Movahhedinia, Naser

2012-01-01

This paper presents a fully automated approach to detect the intima and media-adventitia borders in intravascular ultrasound images based on parametric active contour models. To detect the intima border, we compute a new image feature applying a combination of short-term autocorrelations calculated for the contour pixels. These feature values are employed to define an energy function of the active contour called normalized cumulative short-term autocorrelation. Exploiting this energy function, the intima border is separated accurately from the blood region contaminated by high speckle noise. To extract media-adventitia boundary, we define a new form of energy function based on edge, texture and spring forces for the active contour. Utilizing this active contour, the media-adventitia border is identified correctly even in presence of branch openings and calcifications. Experimental results indicate accuracy of the proposed methods. In addition, statistical analysis demonstrates high conformity between manual tracing and the results obtained by the proposed approaches.

Effect of modulated ultrasound parameters on ultrasound-induced thrombolysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Soltani, Azita; Volz, Kim R; Hansmann, Doulas R

2008-01-01

The potential of ultrasound to enhance enzyme-mediated thrombolysis by application of constant operating parameters (COP) has been widely demonstrated. In this study, the effect of ultrasound with modulated operating parameters (MOP) on enzyme-mediated thrombolysis was investigated. The MOP protocol was applied to an in vitro model of thrombolysis. The results were compared to a COP with the equivalent soft tissue thermal index (TIS) over the duration of ultrasound exposure of 30 min (p -2 ± 0.01 μm and 1.99 x 10 -2 ± 0.004 μm, respectively (p < 0.74). No signatures of inertial or stable cavitation were observed for either acoustic protocol. In conclusion, due to mechanisms other than cavitation, application of ultrasound with modulated operating parameters has the potential to significantly enhance the relative lysis enhancement compared to application of ultrasound with constant operating parameters.

Ultrasound-guided approach for axillary brachial plexus, femoral nerve, and sciatic nerve blocks in dogs.

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Campoy, Luis; Bezuidenhout, Abraham J; Gleed, Robin D; Martin-Flores, Manuel; Raw, Robert M; Santare, Carrie L; Jay, Ariane R; Wang, Annie L

2010-03-01

To describe an ultrasound-guided technique and the anatomical basis for three clinically useful nerve blocks in dogs. Prospective experimental trial. Four hound-cross dogs aged 2 +/- 0 years (mean +/- SD) weighing 30 +/- 5 kg and four Beagles aged 2 +/- 0 years and weighing 8.5 +/- 0.5 kg. Axillary brachial plexus, femoral, and sciatic combined ultrasound/electrolocation-guided nerve blocks were performed sequentially and bilaterally using a lidocaine solution mixed with methylene blue. Sciatic nerve blocks were not performed in the hounds. After the blocks, the dogs were euthanatized and each relevant site dissected. Axillary brachial plexus block Landmark blood vessels and the roots of the brachial plexus were identified by ultrasound in all eight dogs. Anatomical examination confirmed the relationship between the four ventral nerve roots (C6, C7, C8, and T1) and the axillary vessels. Three roots (C7, C8, and T1) were adequately stained bilaterally in all dogs. Femoral nerve block Landmark blood vessels (femoral artery and femoral vein), the femoral and saphenous nerves and the medial portion of the rectus femoris muscle were identified by ultrasound in all dogs. Anatomical examination confirmed the relationship between the femoral vessels, femoral nerve, and the rectus femoris muscle. The femoral nerves were adequately stained bilaterally in all dogs. Sciatic nerve block. Ultrasound landmarks (semimembranosus muscle, the fascia of the biceps femoris muscle and the sciatic nerve) could be identified in all of the dogs. In the four Beagles, anatomical examination confirmed the relationship between the biceps femoris muscle, the semimembranosus muscle, and the sciatic nerve. In the Beagles, all but one of the sciatic nerves were stained adequately. Ultrasound-guided needle insertion is an accurate method for depositing local anesthetic for axillary brachial plexus, femoral, and sciatic nerve blocks.

Medical students benefit from the use of ultrasound when learning peripheral IV techniques.

Science.gov (United States)

Osborn, Scott R; Borhart, Joelle; Antonis, Michael S

2012-03-06

Recent studies support high success rates after a short learning period of ultrasound IV technique, and increased patient and provider satisfaction when using ultrasound as an adjunct to peripheral IV placement. No study to date has addressed the efficacy for instructing ultrasound-naive providers. We studied the introduction of ultrasound to the teaching technique of peripheral IV insertion on first- and second-year medical students. This was a prospective, randomized, and controlled trial. A total of 69 medical students were randomly assigned to the control group with a classic, landmark-based approach (n = 36) or the real-time ultrasound-guided group (n = 33). Both groups observed a 20-min tutorial on IV placement using both techniques and then attempted vein cannulation. Students were given a survey to report their results and observations by a 10-cm visual analog scale. The survey response rate was 100%. In the two groups, 73.9% stated that they attempted an IV previously, and 63.7% of students had used an ultrasound machine prior to the study. None had used ultrasound for IV access prior to our session. The average number of attempts at cannulation was 1.42 in either group. There was no difference between the control and ultrasound groups in terms of number of attempts (p = 0.31). In both groups, 66.7% of learners were able to cannulate in one attempt, 21.7% in two attempts, and 11.6% in three attempts. The study group commented that they felt they gained more knowledge from the experience (p students feel they learn more when using ultrasound after a 20-min tutorial to place IVs and cannulation of the vein feels easier. Success rates are comparable between the traditional and ultrasound teaching approaches.

Transvaginal Ultrasound-Guided Aspiration of Pelvic Abscesses

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

P. J. Corsi

1999-01-01

Full Text Available Objective: To assess the utility of a less invasive approach to the care of women with a pelvic abscess, we retrospectively reviewed the outcome of women with pelvic abscesses managed by transvaginal ultrasound-guided aspiration.

Clinical utility of an endoscopic ultrasound-guided rendezvous technique via various approach routes.

Science.gov (United States)

Kawakubo, Kazumichi; Isayama, Hiroyuki; Sasahira, Naoki; Nakai, Yousuke; Kogure, Hirofumi; Hamada, Tsuyoshi; Miyabayashi, Koji; Mizuno, Suguru; Sasaki, Takashi; Ito, Yukiko; Yamamoto, Natsuyo; Hirano, Kenji; Tada, Minoru; Koike, Kazuhiko

2013-09-01

The endoscopic ultrasound-guided rendezvous techniques (EUS-rendezvous) provide reliable biliary access after failed endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) cannulation. We evaluated the clinical utility of an EUS-rendezvous technique using various approach routes. Patients undergoing EUS-rendezvous for biliary access after failed bile duct cannulation in ERCP were included. EUS-rendezvous was performed via three approach routes depending on the patient's condition: transgastric, transduodenal in a short endoscopic position, or transduodenal in a long endoscopic position. The main outcomes were the technical success rates. Secondary outcomes were procedure time and complications. Fourteen patients (median age, 77 years) underwent EUS-rendezvous for biliary access resulting from failed biliary cannulation. The reasons for biliary drainage were malignant biliary obstruction in five patients and choledocholithiasis in nine. Transgastric, transduodenal in a short position, and transduodenal in a long position EUS-rendezvous was performed in five, five, and four patients, respectively. Bile duct puncture occurred in the left intrahepatic duct in four patients, right hepatic duct in one, middle common bile duct in four, and lower common bile duct in five. The technical success rate was 100 %. In four patients, the approach route was modified from transduodenal in a short position to transduodenal in a long position or transgastric route. The median procedure time was 81 min. One case each of biliary peritonitis and pancreatitis occurred and were managed conservatively. EUS-rendezvous provided safe and reliable transpapillary bile duct access after failed ERCP cannulation. The selection of the appropriate approach routes, depending on patient condition, is critical.

Algorithms for estimating blood velocities using ultrasound

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Jørgen Arendt

2000-01-01

Ultrasound has been used intensively for the last 15 years for studying the hemodynamics of the human body. Systems for determining both the velocity distribution at one point of interest (spectral systems) and for displaying a map of velocity in real time have been constructed. A number of schemes...... have been developed for performing the estimation, and the various approaches are described. The current systems only display the velocity along the ultrasound beam direction and a velocity transverse to the beam is not detected. This is a major problem in these systems, since most blood vessels...... are parallel to the skin surface. Angling the transducer will often disturb the flow, and new techniques for finding transverse velocities are needed. The various approaches for determining transverse velocities will be explained. This includes techniques using two-dimensional correlation (speckle tracking...

General Ultrasound Imaging

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Full Text Available ... ultrasound. top of page How does the procedure work? Ultrasound imaging is based on the same principles ... modality for the diagnosis and monitoring of pregnant women and their unborn babies. Ultrasound provides real-time ...

General Ultrasound Imaging

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Full Text Available ... of page How is the procedure performed? For most ultrasound exams, you will be positioned lying face- ... Ultrasound examinations are painless and easily tolerated by most patients. Ultrasound exams in which the transducer is ...

General Ultrasound Imaging

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Full Text Available ... medical test that helps physicians diagnose and treat medical conditions. Conventional ultrasound displays the images in thin, flat sections of the body. Advancements in ultrasound technology include three-dimensional (3-D) ultrasound that formats ...

General Ultrasound Imaging

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Full Text Available ... D images. A Doppler ultrasound study may be part of an ultrasound examination. Doppler ultrasound , also called ... terms of the distance traveled per unit of time, rather than as a color picture. It can ...

Residual generator for cardiovascular anomalies detection

KAUST Repository

Belkhatir, Zehor

2014-06-01

This paper discusses the possibility of using observer-based approaches for cardiovascular anomalies detection and isolation. We consider a lumped parameter model of the cardiovascular system that can be written in a form of nonlinear state-space representation. We show that residuals that are sensitive to variations in some cardiovascular parameters and to abnormal opening and closure of the valves, can be generated. Since the whole state is not easily available for measurement, we propose to associate the residual generator to a robust extended kalman filter. Numerical results performed on synthetic data are provided.

Ultrasound in Space Medicine

Science.gov (United States)

Dulchavsky, Scott A.; Sargsyan, A.E.

2009-01-01

This slide presentation reviews the use of ultrasound as a diagnostic tool in microgravity environments. The goals of research in ultrasound usage in space environments are: (1) Determine accuracy of ultrasound in novel clinical conditions. (2) Determine optimal training methodologies, (3) Determine microgravity associated changes and (4) Develop intuitive ultrasound catalog to enhance autonomous medical care. Also uses of Ultrasound technology in terrestrial applications are reviewed.

The future of the cardiovascular image

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Serna M, J.A.

2007-01-01

In this work the future of the cardiovascular image is presented, it is important to know the advantages and disadvantages of the current image methods to apply them in each case. The characteristics of the methods are presented: X R simple plate, the cardiac ultrasound, the image by magnetic resonance, the computed tomography, the helicoid tomography, the SPECT of myocardial perfusion, the PET and the PET/CT and the used radiopharmaceuticals. The SPECT of myocardial perfusion is the more used method around the world for the evacuation of the coronary illness. It has a high sensitivity (between 90 and 97%), it is a non-invasive treatment (morbidity of 0.01%), of relative low cost and it is useful in the diagnosis of ischemia in groups of high risk like diabetics, dyslipidemia, obese and hypertension. (Author)

Ultrasound -- Pelvis

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Full Text Available ... through blood vessels. Ultrasound imaging is a noninvasive medical test that helps physicians diagnose and treat medical conditions. There are three types of pelvic ultrasound: ...

Implementation of Synthetic Aperture Imaging in Medical Ultrasound

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Jørgen Arendt; Kortbek, Jacob; Nikolov, Svetoslav

2010-01-01

The main advantage of medical ultrasound imaging is its real time capability, which makes it possible to visualize dynamic structures in the human body. Real time synthetic aperture imaging puts very high demands on the hardware, which currently cannot be met. A method for reducing the number...... of calculations and still retain the many advantages of SA imaging is described. It consists of a dual stage beamformer, where the first can be a simple fixed focus analog beamformer and the second an ordinary digital ultrasound beamformer. The performance and constrictions of the approach is described....

General Ultrasound Imaging

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Full Text Available ... transducer sends out high-frequency sound waves (that the human ear cannot hear) into the body and then ... ultrasound , there are no known harmful effects on humans. top of page What are the limitations of General Ultrasound Imaging? Ultrasound waves are ...

Abdominal ultrasound-scanning versus non-contrast computed tomography as screening method for abdominal aortic aneurysm

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Liisberg, Mads; Diederichsen, Axel C.; Lindholt, Jes S.

2017-01-01

Background: Validating non-contrast-enhanced computed tomography (nCT) compared to ultrasound sonography (US) as screening method for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) screening. Methods: Consecutively attending men (n = 566) from the pilot study of the randomized Danish CardioVascular Screening......CT seems superior to US concerning sensitivity, and is able to detect aneurysmal lesions not detectable with US. Finally, the prevalence of AAA in Denmark seems to remain relatively high, in this small pilot study group....

Improving ultrasound gene transfection efficiency by controlling ultrasound excitation of microbubbles

Science.gov (United States)

Fan, Z.; Chen, D.; Deng, C.X.

2013-01-01

Ultrasound application in the presence of microbubbles has shown great potential for non-viral gene transfection via transient disruption of cell membrane (sonoporation). However, improvement of its efficiency has largely relied on empirical approaches without consistent and translatable results. The goal of this study is to develop a rational strategy based on new results obtained using novel experimental techniques and analysis to improve sonoporation gene transfection. We conducted experiments using targeted microbubbles that were attached to cell membrane to facilitate sonoporation. We quantified the dynamic activities of microbubbles exposed to pulsed ultrasound and the resulting sonoporation outcome and identified distinct regimes of characteristic microbubble behaviors: stable cavitation, coalescence and translation, and inertial cavitation. We found that inertial cavitation generated the highest rate of membrane poration. By establishing direct correlation of ultrasound-induced bubble activities with intracellular uptake and pore size, we designed a ramped pulse exposure scheme for optimizing microbubble excitation to improve sonoporation gene transfection. We implemented a novel sonoporation gene transfection system using an aqueous two phase system (ATPS) for efficient use of reagents and high throughput operation. Using plasmid coding for the green fluorescence protein (GFP), we achieved a sonoporation transfection efficiency in rate aortic smooth muscle cells (RASMCs) of 6.9% ± 2.2% (n = 9), comparable with lipofection (7.5% ± 0.8%, n = 9). Our results reveal characteristic microbubble behaviors responsible for sonoporation and demonstrated a rational strategy to improve sonoporation gene transfection. PMID:23770009

Ultrasound assisted arthroscopic approach for removal of basilar sesamoid fragments of the proximal sesamoid bones in horses.

Science.gov (United States)

Barrett, Elizabeth J; Rodgerson, Dwayne H

2014-08-01

To describe an ultrasound assisted arthroscopic approach for removal of non-articular basilar sesamoid fragments in Thoroughbred yearlings. Thoroughbred yearlings (n = 7). Basilar sesamoid fragments identified during pre-sale radiographic examination were removed using a palmar/plantar arthroscopic approach to the fetlock joint and ultrasonographic guidance. Complete fragment removal was confirmed by ultrasonography and radiography. Basilar sesamoid fracture fragments were localized and removed successfully using rongeurs and a radiofrequency probe for soft tissue dissection of the fragment. Complete fragment removal was confirmed by ultrasonography and radiography. No intra- or postoperative complications occurred. At 6-8 months follow-up, no fragments or bony proliferation at the base of the sesamoid was observed. Ultrasonographic guidance can be used to facilitate localization, dissection, and confirmation of removal of basilar fragments of the proximal sesamoid bone. © Copyright 2014 by The American College of Veterinary Surgeons.

Enhancement of convective drying by application of airborne ultrasound - a response surface approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Beck, Svenja M; Sabarez, Henry; Gaukel, Volker; Knoerzer, Kai

2014-11-01

Drying is one of the oldest and most commonly used processes in the food manufacturing industry. The conventional way of drying is by forced convection at elevated temperatures. However, this process step often requires a very long treatment time, is highly energy consuming and detrimental to the product quality. Therefore, an investigation of whether the drying time and temperature can be reduced with the assistance of an airborne ultrasound intervention is of interest. Previous studies have shown that contact ultrasound can accelerate the drying process. It is assumed that mechanical vibrations, creating micro channels in the food matrix or keeping these channels from collapsing upon drying, are responsible for the faster water removal. In food samples, due to their natural origin, drying is also influenced by fluctuations in tissue structure, varying between different trials. For this reason, a model food system with thermo-physical properties and composition (water, cellulose, starch, fructose) similar to those of plant-based foods has been used in this study. The main objective was, therefore, to investigate the influence of airborne ultrasound conditions on the drying behaviour of the model food. The impact of airborne ultrasound at various power levels, drying temperature, relative humidity of the drying air, and the air speed was analysed. To examine possible interactions between these parameters, the experiments were designed with a Response Surface Method using Minitab 16 Statistical Software (Minitab Inc., State College, PA, USA). In addition, a first attempt at improving the process conditions and performance for better suitability and applicability in industrial scale processing was undertaken by non-continuous/intermittent sonication. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Clinical diagnostic ultrasound

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barnett, E.; Morley, P.

1986-01-01

This textbook on diagnostic ultrasound covers the main systems, with emphasis being placed on the clinical application of diagnostic ultrasound in everyday practice. It provides not only a textbook for postgraduates (particularly FRCR candidates), but also a reference work for practitioners of clinical ultrasound and clinicians generally

Managing Cardiovascular Disease Risk in Rheumatoid Arthritis: Clinical Updates and Three Strategic Approaches.

Science.gov (United States)

Chodara, Ann M; Wattiaux, Aimée; Bartels, Christie M

2017-04-01

ᅟ: The increase in cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is well known; however, appropriate management of this elevated risk in rheumatology clinics is less clear. By critically reviewing literature published within the past 5 years, we aim to clarify current knowledge and gaps regarding CVD risk management in RA. We examine recent guidelines, recommendations, and evidence and discuss three approaches: (1) RA-specific management including treat-to-target and medication management, (2) assessment of comprehensive individual risk, and (3) targeting traditional CVD risk factors (hypertension, smoking, hyperlipidemia, diabetes, obesity, and physical inactivity) at a population level. Considering that 75% of US RA visits occur in specialty clinics, further research is needed regarding evidence-based strategies to manage and reduce CVD risk in RA. This review highlights clinical updates including US cardiology and international professional society guidelines, successful evidence-based population approaches from primary care, and novel opportunities in rheumatology care to reduce CVD risk in RA.

Therapeutic ultrasound

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Crum, Lawrence A

2004-01-01

The use of ultrasound in medicine is now quite commonplace, especially with the recent introduction of small, portable and relatively inexpensive, hand-held diagnostic imaging devices. Moreover, ultrasound has expanded beyond the imaging realm, with methods and applications extending to novel therapeutic and surgical uses. These applications broadly include: tissue ablation, acoustocautery, lipoplasty, site-specific and ultrasound mediated drug activity, extracorporeal lithotripsy, and the enhancement of natural physiological functions such as wound healing and tissue regeneration. A particularly attractive aspect of this technology is that diagnostic and therapeutic systems can be combined to produce totally non-invasive, imageguided therapy. This general lecture will review a number of these exciting new applications of ultrasound and address some of the basic scientific questions and future challenges in developing these methods and technologies for general use in our society. We shall particularly emphasize the use of High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) in the treatment of benign and malignant tumors as well as the introduction of acoustic hemostasis, especially in organs which are difficult to treat using conventional medical and surgical techniques. (amum lecture)

Standards of the Polish Ultrasound Society – update. Ultrasound examination of thyroid gland and ultrasound-guided thyroid biopsy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anna Trzebińska

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Ultrasonography is a primary imaging technique in patients with suspected thyroid disease. It allows to assess the location, size and echostructures of the thyroid gland as well as detect focal lesions, along with indication of their size, echogenicity, echostructure and vascularity. Based on these features, ultrasound examination allows to predict abnormal focal lesions for biopsy and monitor the biopsy needle track. This paper presents the standards of thyroid ultrasound examination regarding ultrasound apparatus technical requirements, scanning techniques, readings, measurements, and the description of the examination. It discusses the ultrasound features of increased malignancy risk in focal lesions (nodules found in the thyroid gland. It presents indications for fine needle aspiration biopsy of the thyroid gland for the visibility of single nodules (focal lesions and numerous lesions as well as discusses contraindications for thyroid biopsy. It describes the biopsy technique, possible complications and rules for post-biopsy monitoring of benign lesions. The paper is an update of the Standards of the Polish Ultrasound Society issued in 2011. It has been prepared on the basis of current literature, taking into account the information contained in the following publications: Thyroid ultrasound examination and Recommendations of the Polish Ultrasound Society for the performance of the FNAB of the thyroid.

Ultrasound -- Pelvis

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Full Text Available ... is used to evaluate the: bladder seminal vesicles prostate Transrectal ultrasound, a special study usually done to provide detailed evaluation of the prostate gland, involves inserting a specialized ultrasound transducer into ...

Obstetrical Ultrasound

Science.gov (United States)

... heartbeat can be seen as an ongoing ultrasound movie. Ultrasound devices also use Doppler, a special application ... the possible charges you will incur. Web page review process: This Web page is reviewed regularly by ...

Intraoperative translabial ultrasound for urethral diverticula: A road map for surgeons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

El-Zein, C.; Khoury, N.; El-Zein, Y.; Bulbul, M.; Birjawi, G.

2009-01-01

Purpose: To highlight the importance of intraoperative translabial ultrasound, for identification of diverticular neck allowing complete resection of periurethral diverticula and decrease in the recurrence rate. Material and methods: This study included 4 women of age range between 38 and 68 years presenting for recurrent urinary tract infections and urethral pain. All had translabial urethral ultrasound and cystoscopy with and without U/C guidance. Results: Prior cystoscopy in all these patients failed to demonstrate the diverticulum. Translabial ultrasound showed the diverticula some of which were infected. Ultrasound was used intraoperatively to guide the surgeon. With this approach the abnormality was confirmed and the neck of the diverticulum was identified through percutaneous needle insertion. This allowed complete resection of the diverticula. Conclusion: Translabial ultrasound is a non-invasive technique that plays a major role in examining the urethra and identifying the periuthral diverticula. In our experience, it was very useful as an adjunct to guide the surgeon intraoperatively allowing complete excision of the diverticulum.

Intraoperative translabial ultrasound for urethral diverticula: A road map for surgeons

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

El-Zein, C.; Khoury, N.; El-Zein, Y. [Department of Diagnostic Radiology, American University of Beirut Medical Center, Bliss Street, P.O. Box 11-0236, Riad El Solh 1107 2020, Beirut (Lebanon); Bulbul, M. [Department of Urology, American University of Beirut Medical Center, Bliss Street, P.O. Box 11-0236, Riad El Solh 1107 2020, Beirut (Lebanon); Birjawi, G. [Department of Diagnostic Radiology, American University of Beirut Medical Center, Bliss Street, P.O. Box 11-0236, Riad El Solh 1107 2020, Beirut (Lebanon)], E-mail: gb02@aub.edu.lb

2009-04-15

Purpose: To highlight the importance of intraoperative translabial ultrasound, for identification of diverticular neck allowing complete resection of periurethral diverticula and decrease in the recurrence rate. Material and methods: This study included 4 women of age range between 38 and 68 years presenting for recurrent urinary tract infections and urethral pain. All had translabial urethral ultrasound and cystoscopy with and without U/C guidance. Results: Prior cystoscopy in all these patients failed to demonstrate the diverticulum. Translabial ultrasound showed the diverticula some of which were infected. Ultrasound was used intraoperatively to guide the surgeon. With this approach the abnormality was confirmed and the neck of the diverticulum was identified through percutaneous needle insertion. This allowed complete resection of the diverticula. Conclusion: Translabial ultrasound is a non-invasive technique that plays a major role in examining the urethra and identifying the periuthral diverticula. In our experience, it was very useful as an adjunct to guide the surgeon intraoperatively allowing complete excision of the diverticulum.

Ultrasound imaging in urogynecology – state of the art 2016

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michał Bogusiewicz

2016-11-01

Full Text Available The role of ultrasound imaging in urogynecology is not clearly defined. Despite significant developments in visualization techniques and interpretation of images, pelvic ultrasound is still more a tool for research than for clinical practice. Structures of the lower genitourinary tract and pelvic floor can be visualized from different approaches: transperineal, introital, transvaginal, abdominal or endoanal. According to contemporary guidelines and recommendations, the role of ultrasound in urogynecology is limited to the measurement of post-void residue. However, in many instances, including planning and audit of surgical procedures, management of recurrences or complications, ultrasound may be proposed as the initial examination of choice. Ultrasound may be used for assessment of bladder neck mobility before anti-incontinence procedures. On rare occasions it is helpful in recognition of pathologies mimicking vaginal prolapse such as vaginal cyst, urethral diverticula or rectal intussusception. In patients subjected to suburethral slings, causes of surgery failure or postsurgical voiding dysfunctions can be revealed by imaging. Many reports link the location of a tape close to the bladder neck to unfavorable outcomes of sling surgery. Some postoperative complications, such as urinary retention, mesh malposition, hematoma, or urinary tract injury, can be diagnosed by ultrasound. On the other hand, the clinical value of some applications of ultrasound in urogynecology, for example measurement of the bladder wall thickness as a marker of detrusor overactivity, has not been proved.

Ultrasound imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wells, P.N.T.

1983-01-01

Ultrasound is a form of energy which consists of mechanical vibrations the frequencies of which are so high that they are above the range of human hearing. The lower frequency limit of the ultrasonic spectrum may generally be taken to be about 20 kHz. Most biomedical applications of ultrasound employ frequencies in the range 1-15 MHz. At these frequencies, the wavelength is in the range 1.5 - 0.1 mm in soft tissues, and narrow beams of ultrasound can be generated which propagate through such tissues without excessive attenuation. This chapter begins with brief reviews of the physics of diagnostic ultrasound pulse-echo imaging methods and Doppler imaging methods. The remainder of the chapter is a resume of the applications of ultrasonic imaging to physiological measurement

Automatic Ultrasound Scanning

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Moshavegh, Ramin

on the user adjustments on the scanner interface to optimize the scan settings. This explains the huge interest in the subject of this PhD project entitled “AUTOMATIC ULTRASOUND SCANNING”. The key goals of the project have been to develop automated techniques to minimize the unnecessary settings...... on the scanners, and to improve the computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) in ultrasound by introducing new quantitative measures. Thus, four major issues concerning automation of the medical ultrasound are addressed in this PhD project. They touch upon gain adjustments in ultrasound, automatic synthetic aperture image...

Towards clinical prostate ultrasound elastography using full inversion approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Mousavi, Seyed Reza; Sadeghi-Naini, Ali; Czarnota, Gregory J; Samani, Abbas

2014-03-01

Various types of cancers including prostate cancer are known to be associated with biological changes that lead to tissue stiffening. Digital rectal examination is based on manually palpating the prostate tissue via the rectum. This test lacks sufficient accuracy required for early diagnosis which is necessary for effective management of prostate cancer. To develop an effective prostate cancer diagnostic technique, the authors propose an imaging technique that maps the distribution of the relative prostate tissue's elasticity modulus. Unlike digital rectal examination, this technique is quantitative, capable of accurately detecting small prostate lesions that cannot be sensed by manual palpation, and its accuracy is independent of the physician's experience. The proposed technique is a quasistatic elastography technique which uses ultrasound imaging to acquire tissue displacements resulting from transrectal ultrasound mechanical stimulation. The system involves a standard ultrasound imaging unit with accessibility to its radiofrequency data. The displacements are used as data for the tissue elasticity reconstruction. This reconstruction does not require tissue segmentation and is based on physics governing tissue mechanics. It is formulated using an inverse problem framework where elastic tissue deformation equations are fully inverted using an iterative scheme where each iteration involves stress calculation followed by elastic modulus updating until convergence is achieved.In silico and tissue mimicking phantom studies were conducted to validate the proposed technique, followed by a clinical pilot study involving two prostate cancer patients with whole-mount histopathology analysis on prostatectomy specimens to confirm a cancer location. The phantom studies demonstrated robustness and reasonably high accuracy of the proposed method. Obtained Young's modulus ratios indicated reconstruction errors of less than 12%. Reconstructed elastic modulus images of the two

The Role of Acoustic Cavitation in Ultrasound-triggered Drug Release from Echogenic Liposomes

Science.gov (United States)

Kopechek, Jonathan A.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death in the United States and globally. CVD-related mortality, including coronary heart disease, heart failure, or stroke, generally occurs due to atherosclerosis, a condition in which plaques build up within arterial walls, potentially causing blockage or rupture. Targeted therapies are needed to achieve more effective treatments. Echogenic liposomes (ELIP), which consist of a lipid membrane surrounding an aqueous core, have been developed to encapsulate a therapeutic agent and/or gas bubbles for targeted delivery and ultrasound image enhancement. Under certain conditions ultrasound can cause nonlinear bubble growth and collapse, known as "cavitation." Cavitation activity has been associated with enhanced drug delivery across cellular membranes. However, the mechanisms of ultrasound-mediated drug release from ELIP have not been previously investigated. Thus, the objective of this dissertation is to elucidate the role of acoustic cavitation in ultrasound-mediated drug release from ELIP. To determine the acoustic and physical properties of ELIP, the frequency-dependent attenuation and backscatter coefficients were measured between 3 and 30 MHz. The results were compared to a theoretical model by measuring the ELIP size distribution in order to determine properties of the lipid membrane. It was found that ELIP have a broad size distribution and can provide enhanced ultrasound image contrast across a broad range of clinically-relevant frequencies. Calcein, a hydrophilic fluorescent dye, and papaverine, a lipophilic vasodilator, were separately encapsulated in ELIP and exposed to color Doppler ultrasound pulses from a clinical diagnostic ultrasound scanner in a flow system. Spectrophotometric techniques (fluorescence and absorbance measurements) were used to detect calcein or papaverine release. As a positive control, Triton X-100 (a non-ionic detergent) was added to ELIP samples not exposed to ultrasound in order

Blood pressure and control of cardiovascular risk

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Judith A Whitworth

2005-10-01

Full Text Available Judith A WhitworthJohn Curtin School of Medical Research, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, AustraliaAbstract: Two key early 20th century notions, the first the primacy of diastolic pressure in determining risk, and the second that hypertension is a discrete disorder, have proved to be incorrect. We now recognize the primacy of systolic pressure as a risk factor for cardiovascular disease and that hypertension is an arbitrary definition. In the early 21st century, we are moving away from a dichotomous approach to risk classification, and away from notions of hypertension and normotension towards an appreciation that blood pressure-related risk is continuous. In parallel, there has been a paradigm shift from a single risk factor approach to comprehensive cardiovascular disease risk prevention. Accordingly, prevention of cardiovascular disease requires a focus on lowering of blood pressure and modification of associated risk factors rather than simply treatment of hypertension. This emphasis is reflected in the World Health Organization (WHO – International Society of Hypertension (ISH 2003 statement on management of hypertension.Keywords: blood pressure, hypertension, cardiovascular risk, treatment

Ultrasound assisted synthesis of stable oil in milk emulsion: Study of operating parameters and scale-up aspects.

Science.gov (United States)

Patil, Leena; Gogate, Parag R

2018-01-01

In the present work, application of ultrasound and stirring individually or in combination for improved emulsification of turmeric oil in skimmed milk has been investigated. The effect of different operating parameters/strategies such as addition of surfactant, sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), at different concentrations, quantity of oil phase, applied power, sonication time and duty cycle on the droplet size have been investigated. The stability of emulsion was analyzed in terms of the fraction of the emulsion that remains stable for a period of 28days. Optimized set of major emulsification process variables has been used at higher emulsion volumes. The effectiveness of treatment approach was analyzed based on oil droplet size, energy density and the time required for the formation of stable emulsion. It was observed that the stable emulsion at 50mL capacity with mean droplet diameter of about 235.4nm was obtained with the surfactant concentration of 5mg/mL, 11% of rated power (power density: 0.31W/mL) and irradiation time of 5min. The emulsion stability was higher in the case of ultrasound assisted approach as compared to the stirring. For the preparation of stable emulsion at 300mL capacity, it was observed that the sequential approach, i.e., stirring followed by ultrasound, gave lower mean droplet diameter (232.6nm) than the simultaneous approach, i.e., ultrasound and stirring together (257.9nm). However, the study also revealed that the simultaneous approach required very less time (15min) to synthesize stable emulsion as compared to the sequential approach (30min stirring and 60min ultrasound). It was successfully demonstrated that the ultrasound-assisted emulsification in the presence of SDS could be used for the preparation of stable turmeric oil-dairy emulsions, also providing insights into the role of SDS in increasing the stability of emulsions and of ultrasound in giving lower droplet sizes. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Ultrasound -- Pelvis

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Full Text Available Toggle navigation Test/Treatment Patient Type Screening/Wellness Disease/Condition Safety En Español More Info Images/Videos About Us News Physician Resources Professions Site Index A-Z Ultrasound - Pelvis Ultrasound imaging ...

Prostate Ultrasound

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Full Text Available Toggle navigation Test/Treatment Patient Type Screening/Wellness Disease/Condition Safety En Español More Info Images/Videos About Us News Physician Resources Professions Site Index A-Z Ultrasound - Prostate Ultrasound of ...

Ultrasound -- Pelvis

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Full Text Available ... needles are used to extract a sample of cells from organs for laboratory testing. Doppler ultrasound images ... ultrasound, measures the direction and speed of blood cells as they move through vessels. The movement of ...

Ultrasound -- Pelvis

Medline Plus

Full Text Available ... insertion. top of page How does the procedure work? Ultrasound imaging is based on the same principles ... modality for the diagnosis and monitoring of pregnant women and their unborn babies. Ultrasound provides real-time ...

Prostate Ultrasound

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Full Text Available ... top of page What are the benefits vs. risks? Benefits Ultrasound is widely available, easy-to-use ... procedures such as needle biopsies and fluid aspiration. Risks For standard diagnostic ultrasound , there are no known ...

Ultrasound -- Pelvis

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Full Text Available ... the procedure? In women, a pelvic ultrasound is most often performed to evaluate the: uterus cervix ovaries ... page How is the procedure performed? Transabdominal: For most ultrasound exams, you will be positioned lying face- ...

Prostate Ultrasound

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Full Text Available ... to-use and less expensive than other imaging methods. Ultrasound imaging uses no ionizing radiation. Ultrasound scanning ... radiation oncology provider in your community, you can search the ACR-accredited facilities database . This website does ...

Ultrasound -- Pelvis

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Full Text Available ... diagnose symptoms experienced by women such as: pelvic pain abnormal vaginal bleeding other menstrual problems Ultrasound exams ... pelvic ultrasound can help evaluate: pelvic masses pelvic pain ambiguous genitalia and anomalies of pelvic organs early ...

Ultrasound -- Pelvis

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Full Text Available ... size, shape and consistency (whether the object is solid or filled with fluid). In medicine, ultrasound is ... ultrasound, measures the direction and speed of blood cells as they move through vessels. The movement of ...

Ultrasound -- Pelvis

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Full Text Available ... by women such as: pelvic pain abnormal vaginal bleeding other menstrual problems Ultrasound exams also help identify: ... fibroids cancer, especially in patients with abnormal uterine bleeding Some physicians also use 3-D ultrasound or ...

Prostate Ultrasound

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Full Text Available ... those sound waves to create an image. Ultrasound examinations do not use ionizing radiation (as used in ... abnormal masses, such as tumors. In an ultrasound examination, a transducer both sends the sound waves into ...

Ultrasound -- Pelvis

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Full Text Available ... There are three types of pelvic ultrasound: abdominal, vaginal (for women), and rectal (for men). These exams ... are three types of pelvic ultrasound: abdominal ( transabdominal ) vaginal ( transvaginal / endovaginal ) for women rectal ( transrectal ) for men ...

Ultrasound -- Pelvis

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Full Text Available ... object is solid or filled with fluid). In medicine, ultrasound is used to detect changes in appearance, ... have special pediatric considerations. The teddy bear denotes child-specific content. Related Articles and Media Sonohysterography Ultrasound - ...

Prostate Ultrasound

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Full Text Available ... and produces pictures of the inside of the body using sound waves. Ultrasound imaging, also called ultrasound ... from the probe through the gel into the body. The transducer collects the sounds that bounce back ...

Ultrasound -- Pelvis

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Full Text Available ... and produces pictures of the inside of the body using sound waves. Ultrasound imaging, also called ultrasound ... from the probe through the gel into the body. The transducer collects the sounds that bounce back ...

Ultrasound -- Pelvis

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Full Text Available ... investigation of the uterine cavity . Three-dimensional (3-D) ultrasound permits evaluation of the uterus and ovaries ... abnormal uterine bleeding Some physicians also use 3-D ultrasound or sonohysterography for patients with infertility. In ...

Ultrasound -- Pelvis

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Full Text Available ... insertion. top of page How does the procedure work? Ultrasound imaging is based on the same principles ... have special pediatric considerations. The teddy bear denotes child-specific content. Related Articles and Media Sonohysterography Ultrasound - ...

Ultrasound -- Pelvis

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Full Text Available ... Imaging? Ultrasound waves are disrupted by air or gas; therefore ultrasound is not an ideal imaging technique ... page Additional Information and Resources RTAnswers.org Radiation Therapy for Gynecologic Cancers Radiation Therapy for Prostate Cancer ...

Prostate Ultrasound

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Full Text Available ... of page What will I experience during and after the procedure? Ultrasound exams in which the transducer ... in the sperm or urine following the procedure. After an ultrasound examination, you should be able to ...

Ultrasound -- Pelvis

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Full Text Available ... Ultrasound is the preferred imaging modality for the diagnosis and monitoring of pregnant women and their unborn ... sexes without x-ray exposure. Risks For standard diagnostic ultrasound , there are no known harmful effects on ...

Prostate Ultrasound

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Full Text Available ... ultrasound images are captured in real-time, they can show the structure and movement of the body's ... Because ultrasound provides real-time images, it also can be used to guide procedures such as needle ...

Prostate Ultrasound

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Full Text Available ... patient. Because ultrasound images are captured in real-time, they can show the structure and movement of ... test result. difficulty urinating. Because ultrasound provides real-time images, it also can be used to guide ...

Ultrasound -- Pelvis

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Full Text Available ... patient. Because ultrasound images are captured in real-time, they can show the structure and movement of ... help to distract the child and make the time pass quickly. The ultrasound exam room may have ...

Prostate Ultrasound

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Full Text Available ... Ultrasound provides real-time imaging, making it a good tool for guiding minimally invasive procedures such as ... bowel (rectum) removed during prior surgery are not good candidates for ultrasound of the prostate gland because ...

Ultrasound -- Pelvis

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Full Text Available ... image. Ultrasound examinations do not use ionizing radiation (as used in x-rays ), thus there is no ... structure and movement of the body's internal organs, as well as blood flowing through blood vessels. Ultrasound ...

Ultrasound -- Pelvis

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Full Text Available ... and development of an embryo or fetus during pregnancy. See the Obstetrical Ultrasound page for more information . ... object is solid or filled with fluid). In medicine, ultrasound is used to detect changes in appearance, ...

Ultrasound -- Pelvis

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Full Text Available ... menstrual problems Ultrasound exams also help identify: palpable masses such as ovarian cysts and uterine fibroids ovarian ... In children, pelvic ultrasound can help evaluate: pelvic masses pelvic pain ambiguous genitalia and anomalies of pelvic ...

Ultrasound -- Pelvis

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Full Text Available ... most ultrasound exams, you will be positioned lying face-up on an examination table that can be ... region of the prostate. A biopsy will add time to the procedure. If a Doppler ultrasound study ...

Ultrasound -- Pelvis

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Full Text Available ... ultrasound: abdominal, vaginal (for women), and rectal (for men). These exams are frequently used to evaluate the ... vaginal ( transvaginal / endovaginal ) for women rectal ( transrectal ) for men A Doppler ultrasound exam may be part of ...

A new approach for estimation of the axial velocity using ultrasound

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Munk, Peter; Jensen, Jørgen Arendt

2000-01-01

for the data segment. The benefit of this method is an estimate of the mean axial velocity which is independent of the center frequency of the propagating ultrasound pulse. The estimate will only depend on fs and fprf. Results of the estimation method is presented based on both simple generated RF harmonic...

[The use of intraoperative Doppler ultrasound in endoscopic transsphenoidal surgery].

Science.gov (United States)

Sharipov, O I; Kutin, M A; Kalinin, P L; Fomichev, D V; Lukshin, V A; Kurnosov, A B

2016-01-01

Doppler ultrasound (DUS) has been widely used in neurosurgical practice to diagnose various cerebrovascular diseases. This technique is used in transsphenoidal surgery to identify the localization of intracranial arteries when making an approach or during tumor resection. To identify the cavernous segment of the internal carotid artery (ICA) and/or basilar artery during endoscopic transsphenoidal surgery, we used a combined device on the basis of a click line curette («Karl Storz») and a 16 MHz Doppler probe (Lassamed). The technique was used in 51 patients during both standard transsphenoidal surgery (23 cases) and transsphenoidal tumor resection through an extended approach (28 cases). Doppler ultrasound was used in different situations: to determine a trajectory of the endonasal transsphenoidal approach in the absence of the normal anatomical landmarks (16 cases), to define the limits of safe resection of a tumor located in the laterosellar region (7), and to implement an extended transsphenoidal endoscopic approach (28). Intraoperative Doppler ultrasound enabled identification of the cavernous segment of the internal carotid artery in 45 cases and the basilar artery in 2 cases; a blood vessel was not found in 4 cases. Injury to the cavernous segment of the internal carotid artery was observed only in 1 case. The use of the described combined device in transsphenoidal surgery turned Doppler ultrasound into an important and useful technique for visualization of the ICA within the tumor stroma as well as in the case of the changed skull base anatomy. Its use facilitates manipulations in a deep and narrow wound and enables inspection of the entire surface of the operative field in various planes, thereby surgery becomes safer due to the possibility of maximum investigation of the operative field.

Prostate Ultrasound

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Full Text Available ... pictures of a man’s prostate gland and to help diagnose symptoms such as difficulty urinating or an ... Ultrasound imaging is a noninvasive medical test that helps physicians diagnose and treat medical conditions. Prostate ultrasound, ...

Ultrasound -- Pelvis

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Full Text Available ... ovarian cysts and uterine fibroids ovarian or uterine cancers A transvaginal ultrasound is usually performed to view the endometrium (the lining of the uterus) and the ovaries. Transvaginal ultrasound also evaluates the myometrium (muscular walls ...

Ultrasound -- Pelvis

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Full Text Available ... Obstetric Ultrasound Ultrasound - Prostate Kidney and Bladder Stones Abnormal Vaginal Bleeding ... questions or for a referral to a radiologist or other physician. To locate a medical imaging or radiation oncology provider in your community, you ...

Ten good reasons to practice ultrasound in critical care.

Science.gov (United States)

Lichtenstein, Daniel; van Hooland, Simon; Elbers, Paul; Malbrain, Manu L N G

2014-01-01

. An advantage of lung ultrasound is that the patient is not exposed to radiation, and so the LUCI-FLR project (LUCI favouring limitation of radiation) can be unfolded in trauma patients. Although it has been practiced for 25 years, critical care ultrasound is a relatively young but expanding discipline and can be seen as the stethoscope of the modern intensivist. In this review, the usefulness and advantages of ultrasound in the critical care setting are discussed in ten points. The emphasis is on a holistic approach, with a central role for lung ultrasound.

Synthetic tracked aperture ultrasound imaging: design, simulation, and experimental evaluation.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Haichong K; Cheng, Alexis; Bottenus, Nick; Guo, Xiaoyu; Trahey, Gregg E; Boctor, Emad M

2016-04-01

Ultrasonography is a widely used imaging modality to visualize anatomical structures due to its low cost and ease of use; however, it is challenging to acquire acceptable image quality in deep tissue. Synthetic aperture (SA) is a technique used to increase image resolution by synthesizing information from multiple subapertures, but the resolution improvement is limited by the physical size of the array transducer. With a large F-number, it is difficult to achieve high resolution in deep regions without extending the effective aperture size. We propose a method to extend the available aperture size for SA-called synthetic tracked aperture ultrasound (STRATUS) imaging-by sweeping an ultrasound transducer while tracking its orientation and location. Tracking information of the ultrasound probe is used to synthesize the signals received at different positions. Considering the practical implementation, we estimated the effect of tracking and ultrasound calibration error to the quality of the final beamformed image through simulation. In addition, to experimentally validate this approach, a 6 degree-of-freedom robot arm was used as a mechanical tracker to hold an ultrasound transducer and to apply in-plane lateral translational motion. Results indicate that STRATUS imaging with robotic tracking has the potential to improve ultrasound image quality.

Prostate Ultrasound

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Full Text Available ... Ultrasound is safe, noninvasive, and does not use ionizing radiation. This procedure requires little to no special preparation. ... create an image. Ultrasound examinations do not use ionizing radiation (as used in x-rays ), thus there is ...

Ultrasound -- Pelvis

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Full Text Available ... Ultrasound is safe, noninvasive and does not use ionizing radiation. This procedure requires little to no special preparation. ... create an image. Ultrasound examinations do not use ionizing radiation (as used in x-rays ), thus there is ...

Prostate Ultrasound

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Full Text Available ... the patient. Because ultrasound images are captured in real-time, they can show the structure and movement of ... blood test result. difficulty urinating. Because ultrasound provides real-time images, it also can be used to guide ...

In-vivo evaluation of three ultrasound vector velocity techniques with MR angiography

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Kristoffer Lindskov; Udesen, Jesper; Oddershede, Niels

2008-01-01

In conventional Doppler ultrasound (US) the blood velocity is only estimated along the US beam direction. The estimate is angle corrected assuming laminar flow parallel to the vessel boundaries. As the now in the vascular system never is purely laminar, the velocities estimated with conventional...... additionally constructed and mean differences for the three comparisons were: DB/MRA = 0.17 ml; STA/MRA = 0.07 ml; TO/MRA = 0.24 ml. The three US vector velocity techniques yield quantitative insight in to flow dynamics and can potentially give the clinician a powerful tool in cardiovascular disease assessment....

Social media to supplement point-of-care ultrasound courses: the "sandwich e-learning" approach. A randomized trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Hempel, Dorothea; Haunhorst, Stephanie; Sinnathurai, Sivajini; Seibel, Armin; Recker, Florian; Heringer, Frank; Michels, Guido; Breitkreutz, Raoul

2016-12-01

Point-of-care ultrasound (POC-US) is gaining importance in almost all specialties. E-learning has been used to teach theoretical knowledge and pattern recognition. As social media are universally available, they can be utilized for educational purposes. We wanted to evaluate the utility of the sandwich e-learning approach defined as a pre-course e-learning and a post-course learning activity using Facebook after a one-day point-of-care ultrasound (POC-US) course and its effect on the retention of knowledge. A total of 62 medial students were recruited for this study and randomly assigned to one of four groups. All groups received an identical hands-on training and performed several tests during the study period. The hands-on training was performed in groups of five students per instructor with the students scanning each other. Group 1 had access to pre-course e-learning, but not to post-course e-learning. Instead of a pre-course e-learning, group 2 listened to presentations at the day of the course (classroom teaching) and had access to the post-course learning activity using Facebook. Group 3 had access to both pre- and post-course e-learning (sandwich e-learning) activities, while group 4 listened classroom presentations only (classroom teaching only). Therefore only groups 2 and 3 had access to post-course learning via Facebook by joining a secured group. Posts containing ultrasound pictures and videos were published to this group. The students were asked to "like" the posts to monitor attendance. Knowledge retention was assessed 6 weeks after the course. After 6 weeks, group 3 achieved comparable results when compared to group 2 (82.2 % + -8.2 vs. 84.3 + -8.02) (p = 0.3). Students who participated in the post-course activity were more satisfied with the overall course than students without post-course learning (5.5 vs. 5.3 on a range from 1 to 6). In this study, the sandwich e-learning approach led to equal rates of knowledge retention compared to

Ultrasound -- Pelvis

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Full Text Available ... internal organs, as well as blood flowing through blood vessels. Ultrasound imaging is a noninvasive medical test that helps physicians diagnose and treat medical conditions. There are three types of pelvic ultrasound: abdominal ( transabdominal ) vaginal ( transvaginal / endovaginal ) ...

Ultrasound -- Pelvis

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Full Text Available ... to-use and less expensive than other imaging methods. Ultrasound imaging is extremely safe and does not use any ionizing radiation. Ultrasound scanning gives a clear picture of soft tissues that do not show up well on ...

Improving ultrasound gene transfection efficiency by controlling ultrasound excitation of microbubbles.

Science.gov (United States)

Fan, Z; Chen, D; Deng, C X

2013-09-28

Ultrasound application in the presence of microbubbles has shown great potential for non-viral gene transfection via transient disruption of cell membrane (sonoporation). However, improvement of its efficiency has largely relied on empirical approaches without consistent and translatable results. The goal of this study is to develop a rational strategy based on new results obtained using novel experimental techniques and analysis to improve sonoporation gene transfection. In this study, we conducted experiments using targeted microbubbles that were attached to cell membrane to facilitate sonoporation. We quantified the dynamic activities of microbubbles exposed to pulsed ultrasound and the resulting sonoporation outcome, and identified distinct regimes of characteristic microbubble behaviors: stable cavitation, coalescence and translation, and inertial cavitation. We found that inertial cavitation generated the highest rate of membrane poration. By establishing direct correlation of ultrasound-induced bubble activities with intracellular uptake and pore size, we designed a ramped pulse exposure scheme for optimizing microbubble excitation to improve sonoporation gene transfection. We implemented a novel sonoporation gene transfection system using an aqueous two phase system (ATPS) for efficient use of reagents and high throughput operation. Using plasmids coding for the green fluorescence protein (GFP), we achieved a sonoporation transfection efficiency in rate aortic smooth muscle cells (RASMCs) of 6.9%±2.2% (n=9), comparable with lipofection (7.5%±0.8%, n=9). Our results reveal characteristic microbubble behaviors responsible for sonoporation and demonstrated a rational strategy to improve sonoporation gene transfection. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Computed tomography (CT), nuclear medicine (NM), and ultrasound (US) in oncology patients

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McNeil, B.J.

1982-01-01

This review will summarize the effectiveness of computed tomography, ultrasound, and nuclear medicine imaging procedures in several different disease processes. The results indicate: (1) CT is clearly better than ultrasound for diseases of the adrenal gland and pancreas; (2) for patients with gynecologic malignancies, CT and ultrasound are approximately equivalent in their ability to define treatment options effectively; (3) in the liver, the differences among the three modalities are less marked and are disease specific. For example, for patients with colon cancer the increased effectiveness of CT relative to ultrasound or nuclear medicine is small. For patients with breast cancer, the difference is greater; (4) for patients suspected to have a focal source of sepsis, CT is slightly better than ultrasound or nuclear medicine. In these patients, however, when nuclear medicine images are obtained on a rectilinear scanner, the results are significantly worse compared to nuclear medicine images on a LFOV gamma camera or to ultrasound. As a result of the above studies and concommitant statistical analyses, several conclusions can be drawn about optimum experimental design and statistical approaches for comparing imaging modalities

Sonophoresis Using Ultrasound Contrast Agents: Dependence on Concentration.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Donghee Park

Full Text Available Sonophoresis can increase skin permeability to various drugs in transdermal drug delivery. Cavitation is recognized as the predominant mechanism of sonophoresis. Recently, a new logical approach to enhance the efficiency of transdermal drug delivery was tried. It is to utilize the engineered microbubble and its resonant frequency for increase of cavitation activity. Actively-induced cavitation with low-intensity ultrasound (less than ~1 MPa causes disordering of the lipid bilayers and the formation of aqueous channels by stable cavitation which indicates a continuous oscillation of bubbles. Furthermore, the mutual interactions of microbubble determined by concentration of added bubble are also thought to be an important factor for activity of stable cavitation, even in different characteristics of drug. In the present study, we addressed the dependence of ultrasound contrast agent concentration using two types of drug on the efficiency of transdermal drug delivery. Two types of experiment were designed to quantitatively evaluate the efficiency of transdermal drug delivery according to ultrasound contrast agent concentration. First, an experiment of optical clearing using a tissue optical clearing agent was designed to assess the efficiency of sonophoresis with ultrasound contrast agents. Second, a Franz diffusion cell with ferulic acid was used to quantitatively determine the amount of drug delivered to the skin sample by sonophoresis with ultrasound contrast agents. The maximum enhancement ratio of sonophoresis with a concentration of 1:1,000 was approximately 3.1 times greater than that in the ultrasound group without ultrasound contrast agent and approximately 7.5 times greater than that in the control group. These results support our hypothesis that sonophoresis becomes more effective in transdermal drug delivery due to the presence of engineered bubbles, and that the efficiency of transdermal drug delivery using sonophoresis with

Sonophoresis Using Ultrasound Contrast Agents: Dependence on Concentration.

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Donghee; Song, Gillsoo; Jo, Yongjun; Won, Jongho; Son, Taeyoon; Cha, Ohrum; Kim, Jinho; Jung, Byungjo; Park, Hyunjin; Kim, Chul-Woo; Seo, Jongbum

2016-01-01

Sonophoresis can increase skin permeability to various drugs in transdermal drug delivery. Cavitation is recognized as the predominant mechanism of sonophoresis. Recently, a new logical approach to enhance the efficiency of transdermal drug delivery was tried. It is to utilize the engineered microbubble and its resonant frequency for increase of cavitation activity. Actively-induced cavitation with low-intensity ultrasound (less than ~1 MPa) causes disordering of the lipid bilayers and the formation of aqueous channels by stable cavitation which indicates a continuous oscillation of bubbles. Furthermore, the mutual interactions of microbubble determined by concentration of added bubble are also thought to be an important factor for activity of stable cavitation, even in different characteristics of drug. In the present study, we addressed the dependence of ultrasound contrast agent concentration using two types of drug on the efficiency of transdermal drug delivery. Two types of experiment were designed to quantitatively evaluate the efficiency of transdermal drug delivery according to ultrasound contrast agent concentration. First, an experiment of optical clearing using a tissue optical clearing agent was designed to assess the efficiency of sonophoresis with ultrasound contrast agents. Second, a Franz diffusion cell with ferulic acid was used to quantitatively determine the amount of drug delivered to the skin sample by sonophoresis with ultrasound contrast agents. The maximum enhancement ratio of sonophoresis with a concentration of 1:1,000 was approximately 3.1 times greater than that in the ultrasound group without ultrasound contrast agent and approximately 7.5 times greater than that in the control group. These results support our hypothesis that sonophoresis becomes more effective in transdermal drug delivery due to the presence of engineered bubbles, and that the efficiency of transdermal drug delivery using sonophoresis with microbubbles depends on the

Doppler ultrasound venous mapping of the lower limbs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Galeandro AI

2012-02-01

Full Text Available Aldo Innocente Galeandro1, Giovanni Quistelli2, Pietro Scicchitano2, Michele Gesualdo2, Annapaola Zito2, Paola Caputo2, Rosa Carbonara2, Giuseppe Galgano3, Francesco Ciciarello4, Sandro Mandolesi4, Claude Franceschi5, Marco Matteo Ciccone21Centro Diagnostica Globale and ASL-TA, Taranto, Italy; 2Cardiovascular Diseases Section, Department of Emergency and Organ Transplantation (DETO, University of Bari, Bari, Italy; 3Cardiovascular Diseases Section, Ente Ecclesiastico Ospedale Generale Regionale F Miulli, Acquaviva delle Fonti, Bari, Italy; 4Cardiology Department, Policlinico Umberto I, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy; 5Vascular Laboratories of Hospitals Saint Joseph and Pitié-Salpétrière, Paris, FranceBackground: The study aim was to test the accuracy (intra and interobserver variability, sensitivity, and specificity of a simplified noninvasive ultrasound methodology for mapping superficial and deep veins of the lower limbs.Methods: 62 consecutive patients, aged 62 ± 11 years, were enrolled. All underwent US-examinations, performed by two different investigators, of both legs, four anatomical parts, and 17 veins, to assess the interobserver variability of evaluation of superficial and deep veins of the lower limbs.Results: Overall the agreement between the second versus the first operator was very high in detecting reflux (sensitivity 97.9, specificity 99.7, accuracy 99.5; P = 0.80 at McNemar test. The higher CEAP classification stages were significantly associated with reflux (odds ratio: 1.778, 95% confidence interval: 1.552–2.038; P < 0.001 as well as with thrombosis (odds ratio: 2.765, 95% confidence interval: 1.741–4.389; P < 0.001. Thus, our findings show a strict association between the symptoms of venous disorders and ultrasound evaluation results for thrombosis or reflux.Conclusion: This study demonstrated that our venous mapping protocol is a reliable method showing a very low interobserver variability, which makes it

Approach to treatment for obstructive jaundice of PTCD guided by combining ultrasound with X-ray scan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tang Huanliang; Cao Haoqian; Fei Jianguo

2008-01-01

Objective: To investigate the technical and clinical value of PTCD in patients with obstructive jaundice by the guiding of ultrasound combined with X-ray scan. Methods PTCD was performed in 58 patients with obstructive jaundice, with 47 patients malignant diseases and 11 patients benign diseases, guided by combining ultrasound and X-ray scan. 51 patients were punctured to right bile ducts and 7 cases were left bile ducts. Cholangiography was routinely used. Results: Technical success was obtained in all patients. No bleeding and biliary peritonitis were found after procedures. The bilirubin was reduced by 75.4ummol/L one week after operation. Conclusion: The technique of PTCD guided by combining ultrasound with X-ray scan was safe, simple, cost saving and less complications for obstructive jaundice. (authors)

Determination of gestational age by ultrasound.

Science.gov (United States)

Butt, Kimberly; Lim, Ken

2014-02-01

(such as fetal growth restriction or macrosomia) result in a discrepancy between ultrasound biometric and clinical gestational age. Such reassignment may lead to the omission of appropriate-or the performance of inappropriate-fetal interventions. Summary Statements 1. When performed with quality and precision, ultrasound alone is more accurate than a "certain" menstrual date for determining gestational age in the first and second trimesters (≤ 23 weeks) in spontaneous conceptions, and it is the best method for estimating the delivery date. (II) 2. In the absence of better assessment of gestational age, routine ultrasound in the first or second trimester reduces inductions for post-term pregnancies. (I) 3. Ideally, every pregnant woman should be offered a first-trimester dating ultrasound; however, if the availability of obstetrical ultrasound is limited, it is reasonable to use a second-trimester scan to assess gestational age. (I) 4. Notwithstanding Summary Statements 1, 2, and 3, women vary greatly in their awareness of their internal functions, including ovulation, and this self-knowledge can sometimes be very accurate. (III) Recommendations 1. First-trimester crown-rump length is the best parameter for determining gestational age and should be used whenever appropriate. (I-A) 2. If there is more than one first-trimester scan with a mean sac diameter or crown-rump length measurement, the earliest ultrasound with a crown-rump length equivalent to at least 7 weeks (or 10 mm) should be used to determine the gestational age. (III-B) 3. Between the 12th and 14th weeks, crown-rump length and biparietal diameter are similar in accuracy. It is recommended that crown-rump length be used up to 84 mm, and the biparietal diameter be used for measurements > 84 mm. (II-1A) 4. Although transvaginal ultrasound may better visualize early embryonic structures than a transabdominal approach, it is not more accurate in determining gestational age. Crown-rump length measurement from

Ultrasound stethoscopy

NARCIS (Netherlands)

E.C. Vourvouri (Eleni)

2002-01-01

textabstractIn this thesis we repmi the many evaluation studies with the hand-held ultrasound device in the assessment of different cardiac pathologies and in different clinical settings. The reason for using the tetm "ultrasound stethoscopy" is that these devices are augmenting our

Ultrasound -- Pelvis

Medline Plus

Full Text Available Toggle navigation Test/Treatment Patient Type Screening/Wellness Disease/Condition Safety En Español More Info Images/Videos About Us News Physician Resources Professions Site Index A-Z Ultrasound - Pelvis Ultrasound imaging of the pelvis uses sound waves to ...

Molecular Endoscopic Ultrasound for Diagnosis of Pancreatic Cancer

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bournet, Barbara [Department of Gastroenterology, University Hospital Center Rangueil, 1 avenue Jean Poulhès, TSA 50032, 31059 Toulouse Cedex 9 (France); INSERM U1037, University Hospital Center Rangueil, Toulouse (France); Pointreau, Adeline; Delpu, Yannick; Selves, Janick; Torrisani, Jerome [INSERM U1037, University Hospital Center Rangueil, Toulouse (France); Buscail, Louis, E-mail: buscail.l@chu-toulouse.fr [Department of Gastroenterology, University Hospital Center Rangueil, 1 avenue Jean Poulhès, TSA 50032, 31059 Toulouse Cedex 9 (France); INSERM U1037, University Hospital Center Rangueil, Toulouse (France); Cordelier, Pierre [INSERM U1037, University Hospital Center Rangueil, Toulouse (France)

2011-02-24

Endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration-biopsy is a safe and effective technique in diagnosing and staging of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. However its predictive negative value does not exceed 50% to 60%. Unfortunately, the majority of pancreatic cancer patients have a metastatic and/or a locally advanced disease (i.e., not eligible for curative resection) which explains the limited access to pancreatic tissue specimens. Endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration-biopsy is the most widely used approach for cytological and histological material sampling in these situations used in up to two thirds of patients with pancreatic cancer. Based on this unique material, we and others developed strategies to improve the differential diagnosis between carcinoma and inflammatory pancreatic lesions by analysis of KRAS oncogene mutation, microRNA expression and methylation, as well as mRNA expression using both qRT-PCR and Low Density Array Taqman analysis. Indeed, differentiating pancreatic cancer from pseudotumoral chronic pancreatitis remains very difficult in current clinical practice, and endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration-biopsy analysis proved to be very helpful. In this review, we will compile the clinical and molecular advantages of using endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration-biopsy in managing pancreatic cancer.

Molecular Endoscopic Ultrasound for Diagnosis of Pancreatic Cancer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bournet, Barbara; Pointreau, Adeline; Delpu, Yannick; Selves, Janick; Torrisani, Jerome; Buscail, Louis; Cordelier, Pierre

2011-01-01

Endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration-biopsy is a safe and effective technique in diagnosing and staging of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. However its predictive negative value does not exceed 50% to 60%. Unfortunately, the majority of pancreatic cancer patients have a metastatic and/or a locally advanced disease (i.e., not eligible for curative resection) which explains the limited access to pancreatic tissue specimens. Endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration-biopsy is the most widely used approach for cytological and histological material sampling in these situations used in up to two thirds of patients with pancreatic cancer. Based on this unique material, we and others developed strategies to improve the differential diagnosis between carcinoma and inflammatory pancreatic lesions by analysis of KRAS oncogene mutation, microRNA expression and methylation, as well as mRNA expression using both qRT-PCR and Low Density Array Taqman analysis. Indeed, differentiating pancreatic cancer from pseudotumoral chronic pancreatitis remains very difficult in current clinical practice, and endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration-biopsy analysis proved to be very helpful. In this review, we will compile the clinical and molecular advantages of using endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration-biopsy in managing pancreatic cancer

Integrated ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging for simultaneous temperature and cavitation monitoring during focused ultrasound therapies.

Science.gov (United States)

Arvanitis, Costas D; McDannold, Nathan

2013-11-01

��MRTI registration. Although there was substantial variation, a nonlinear relationship between the average intensity of the cavitation maps, which was relatively constant during sonication, and the peak temperature rise was evident. A fit to the data to an exponential had a correlation coefficient (R(2)) of 0.62. The system was also found to be capable of visualizing cavitation activity with B-mode imaging and of passively mapping cavitation activity transcranially during cavitation-enhanced heating and during low-power sonication with an ultrasound contrast agent. The authors have demonstrated the feasibility of integrating an ultrasound imaging array into an MRgFUS system to simultaneously map localized cavitation activity and temperature. The authors anticipate that this integrated approach can be utilized to develop controllers for cavitation-enhanced ablation and facilitate the optimization and development of this and other ultrasound therapies. The integrated system may also provide a useful tool to study the bioeffects of acoustic cavitation.

Time to foster a rational approach to preventing cardiovascular morbid events.

Science.gov (United States)

Cohn, Jay N; Duprez, Daniel A

2008-07-29

Efforts to prevent atherosclerotic morbid events have focused primarily on risk factor prevention and intervention. These approaches, based on the statistical association of risk factors with events, have dominated clinical practice in the last generation. Because the cardiovascular abnormalities eventuating in morbid events are detectable in the arteries and heart before the development of symptomatic disease, recent efforts have focused on identifying the presence of these abnormalities as a more sensitive and specific guide to the need for therapy. Advances in noninvasive techniques for studying the vasculature and the left ventricle now provide the opportunity to use early disease rather than risk factors as the tool for clinical decision making. A disease scoring system has been developed using 10 tests of vascular and cardiac function and structure. More extensive data to confirm the sensitivity and specificity of this scoring system and to demonstrate its utility in tracking the response to therapy are needed to justify widespread application in clinical practice.

Ultrasound skin tightening.

Science.gov (United States)

Minkis, Kira; Alam, Murad

2014-01-01

Ultrasound skin tightening is a noninvasive, nonablative method that allows for energy deposition into the deep dermal and subcutaneous tissue while avoiding epidermal heating. Ultrasound coagulation is confined to arrays of 1-mm(3) zones that include the superficial musculoaponeurotic system and connective tissue. This technology gained approval from the Food and Drug Administration as the first energy-based skin "lifting" device, specifically for lifting lax tissue on the neck, submentum, and eyebrows. Ultrasound has the unique advantage of direct visualization of treated structures during treatment. Ultrasound is a safe and efficacious treatment for mild skin tightening and lifting. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Crucial factors and emerging concepts in ultrasound-triggered drug delivery.

Science.gov (United States)

Geers, Bart; Dewitte, Heleen; De Smedt, Stefaan C; Lentacker, Ine

2012-12-28

Time and space controlled drug delivery still remains a huge challenge in medicine. A novel approach that could offer a solution is ultrasound guided drug delivery. “Ultrasonic drug delivery” is often based on the use of small gas bubbles (so-called microbubbles) that oscillate and cavitate upon exposure to ultrasound waves. Some microbubbles are FDA approved contrast agents for ultrasound imaging and are nowadays widely investigated as promising drug carriers. Indeed, it has been observed that upon exposure to ultrasound waves, microbubbles may (a) release the encapsulated drugs and (b) simultaneously change the structure of the cell membranes in contact with the microbubbles which may facilitate drug entrance into cells. This review aims to highlight (a) major factors known so far which affect ultrasonic drug delivery (like the structure of the microbubbles, acoustic settings, etc.) and (b) summarizes the recent preclinical progress in this field together with a number of promising new concepts and applications.

Ultrasound guided supraclavicular block.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Hanumanthaiah, Deepak

2013-09-01

Ultrasound guided regional anaesthesia is becoming increasingly popular. The supraclavicular block has been transformed by ultrasound guidance into a potentially safe superficial block. We reviewed the techniques of performing supraclavicular block with special focus on ultrasound guidance.

Vector blood velocity estimation in medical ultrasound

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Jørgen Arendt; Gran, Fredrik; Udesen, Jesper

2006-01-01

Two methods for making vector velocity estimation in medical ultrasound are presented. All of the techniques can find both the axial and transverse velocity in the image and can be used for displaying both the correct velocity magnitude and direction. The first method uses a transverse oscillation...... in the ultrasound field to find the transverse velocity. In-vivo examples from the carotid artery are shown, where complex turbulent flow is found in certain parts of the cardiac cycle. The second approach uses directional beam forming along the flow direction to estimate the velocity magnitude. Using a correlation...... search can also yield the direction, and the full velocity vector is thereby found. An examples from a flow rig is shown....

Risk factor investigation for cardiovascular health through WHO STEPS approach in Ardabil, Iran

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mashadi-Abdollahi H

2011-07-01

Full Text Available H Sadeghi-Bazargani1,2, H Jafarzadeh3, M Fallah4, S Hekmat3, J Bashiri3, GH Hosseingolizadeh3, MS Soltanmohammadzadeh3, A Mortezazadeh3, A Shaker3, M Danehzan3, A Zohouri3, O Khosravi3, R Nasimidoust3, N Malekpour3, E Kharazmi4, M Babaei3, M Nadirmohammadi3, H Mashhadi-Abdollahi51Neuroscience Research Center, 2Statistics and Epidemiology Department, Faculty of Health and Nutrition, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran; 3Public Health Department, Ardabil University of Medical Sciences, Ardabil, Iran; 4Tampere School of Public Health, University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland; 5National Public Health Management Center (NPMC, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, IranObjectives: Reliable evidence is the keystone for any noncommunicable disease (NCD prevention plan to be initiated. In this study we carried out a risk factor investigation based on the WHO Stepwise approach to Surveillance (STEPS.Methods: The study was conducted out on 1000 adults between 15 and 64 years of age living in Ardabil province, north-west Iran during 2006, based on the WHO STEPS approach to surveillance of risk factors for NCD. At this stage only the first and second steps were carried out. Data were collected through standard questionnaires and methods analyzed using STATA version 8 statistical software package.Results: 29.0% of men and 2.6% of women were current daily tobacco smokers. The mean number of manufactured cigarettes smoked per day was 18.9 among current daily smokers. Smoking was most prevalent among men of low-income families and those of lower education. The mean body mass index (BMI was 26.6 kg/m2, and was significantly correlated with systolic blood pressure. 58.9% were overweight or obese; 18.0% had raised blood pressure and 3.7% had isolated systolic hypertension. The mean number of servings of fruit consumed per day was 1.1; 33.1% had low levels of activity. Combined risk factor analysis showed that 4.1% of participants were in the

Collecting Validity Evidence for Simulation-Based Assessment of Point-of-Care Ultrasound Skills

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Jesper Kørup; Dyre, Liv; Jørgensen, Mattis Enggaard

2017-01-01

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to examine the validity of a simulator test designed to evaluate focused assessment with sonography for trauma (FAST) skills. METHODS: Participants included a group of ultrasound novices (n = 25) and ultrasound experts (n = 10). All participants had their FAST...... skills assessed using a virtual reality ultrasound simulator. Procedural performance on the 4 FAST windows was assessed by automated simulator metrics, which received a passing or failing score. The validity evidence for these simulator metrics was examined by a stepwise approach according...

Focused ultrasound in ophthalmology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Silverman RH

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Ronald H Silverman1,2 1Department of Ophthalmology, Columbia University Medical Center, 2F.L. Lizzi Center for Biomedical Engineering, Riverside Research, New York, NY, USA Abstract: The use of focused ultrasound to obtain diagnostically significant information about the eye goes back to the 1950s. This review describes the historical and technological development of ophthalmic ultrasound and its clinical application and impact. Ultrasound, like light, can be focused, which is crucial for formation of high-resolution, diagnostically useful images. Focused, single-element, mechanically scanned transducers are most common in ophthalmology. Specially designed transducers have been used to generate focused, high-intensity ultrasound that through thermal effects has been used to treat glaucoma (via cilio-destruction, tumors, and other pathologies. Linear and annular transducer arrays offer synthetic focusing in which precise timing of the excitation of independently addressable array elements allows formation of a converging wavefront to create a focus at one or more programmable depths. Most recently, linear array-based plane-wave ultrasound, in which the array emits an unfocused wavefront and focusing is performed solely on received data, has been demonstrated for imaging ocular anatomy and blood flow. While the history of ophthalmic ultrasound extends back over half-a-century, new and powerful technologic advances continue to be made, offering the prospect of novel diagnostic capabilities. Keywords: ophthalmic ultrasound, ultrasound biomicroscopy (UBM, high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU, ultrafast imaging, Doppler imaging 

Ultrasound diagnostics of thyroid diseases

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kharchenko, Vladimir P.; Kotlyarov, Peter M.; Mogutov, Mikhail S.; Sencha, Alexander N.; Patrunov, Yury N.; Belyaev, Denis V.; Alexandrov, Yury K.

2010-01-01

This book is based on the authors' extensive practical experience in the use of modern ultrasound, and other radiological methods, in the diagnosis of thyroid diseases. The authors have analyzed more than 100,000 ultrasound examinations performed between 1995 and 2008 in patients with thyroid and parathyroid disease, as well as many thousands of diagnostic and therapeutic ultrasound-guided minimally invasive procedures. The opening chapters include discussion of current ultrasound techniques, pitfalls, and the specifics of ultrasound examination of the thyroid in children. Detailed attention is then devoted to findings in the normal thyroid and in the presence of diffuse and focal changes. Further chapters focus on such topics as ultrasound examination after thyroid surgery and ultrasound diagnosis of parathyroid disease, recurrent goiter, and neck masses. Ultrasound-guided minimally invasive techniques, such as fine-needle aspiration biopsy, percutaneous laser ablation, and ethanol and glucocorticoid injections, are considered in depth. This up-to-date and richly illustrated book will interest and assist specialists in ultrasound diagnostics, radiologists, endocrinologists, and neck surgeons. (orig.)

Ultrasound description of Pecs II (modified Pecs I): a novel approach to breast surgery.

Science.gov (United States)

Blanco, R; Fajardo, M; Parras Maldonado, T

2012-11-01

The Pecs block (pectoral nerves block) is an easy and reliable superficial block inspired by the infraclavicular block approach and the transversus abdominis plane blocks. Once the pectoralis muscles are located under the clavicle the space between the two muscles is dissected to reach the lateral pectoral and the medial pectoral nerves. The main indications are breast expanders and subpectoral prosthesis where the distension of these muscles is extremely painful. A second version of the Pecs block is described, called "modified Pecs block" or Pecs block type II. This novel approach aims to block at least the pectoral nerves, the intercostobrachial, intercostals III-IV-V-VI and the long thoracic nerve. These nerves need to be blocked to provide complete analgesia during breast surgery, and it is an alternative or a rescue block if paravertebral blocks and thoracic epidurals failed. This block has been used in our unit in the past year for the Pecs I indications described, and in addition for, tumorectomies, wide excisions, and axillary clearances. The ultrasound sequence to perform this block is shown, together with simple X-ray dye images and gadolinium MRI images to understand the spread and pathways that can explain the benefit of this novel approach. Copyright © 2012 Sociedad Española de Anestesiología, Reanimación y Terapéutica del Dolor. Published by Elsevier España. All rights reserved.

Using controlled attenuation parameter combined with ultrasound to survey non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in hemodialysis patients: A prospective cohort study.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yi-Hao Yen

Full Text Available Controlled attenuation parameter (CAP is a non-invasive method for measuring hepatic steatosis (HS. Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD is closely related to cardiovascular diseases (CVDs. CVDs are the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in hemodialysis patients. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of NAFLD in hemodialysis patients.We prospectively enrolled patients undergoing chronic hemodialysis, as well as patients with normal renal function who served as controls. The control group patients were referred by an endocrinologist to be tested for NAFLD; most of these patients had diabetes, hypertension, or dyslipidemia. We excluded those with excess alcohol intake, use of drugs known to induce HS, chronic viral hepatitis, or CAP failure. CAP ≥ 238 dB/m was used as a cutoff suggesting HS. An increased liver kidney contrast, as defined by ultrasound, was used to make the diagnosis of HS.Three hundred and forty-three hemodialysis patients and 252 control group patients were enrolled. Among the hemodialysis patients, 192 (56.0% had CAP- or ultrasound-identified HS compared with 91 (26.5% who only had ultrasound-identified HS (P<0.001. Among the control group patients, 212 (84.1% had CAP- or ultrasound-identified HS compared with 180 (71.4% who only had ultrasound-identified HS (P<0.001.The prevalence of NAFLD in the hemodialysis patients was 56%. The number of diagnoses of NAFLD made by using CAP combined with ultrasound was more than 2 times the number made with ultrasound alone in the hemodialysis patients. Therefore, we suggest the use of CAP combined with ultrasound to screen for NAFLD in hemodialysis patients.

Prostate Ultrasound

Science.gov (United States)

... be able to give a clearer picture of soft tissues that do not show up well on x-ray images. Ultrasound causes no health problems and may be repeated as often as is necessary if medically indicated. Ultrasound provides real-time imaging, making it a good tool for guiding ...

Prostate Ultrasound

Medline Plus

Full Text Available ... the best way to see if treatment is working or if a finding is stable or changed over time. top of page What are the benefits vs. risks? Benefits Ultrasound is widely available, easy-to-use and less expensive than other imaging methods. Ultrasound imaging uses ...

Trans-abdominal ultrasound evaluation of high-intensity focused ultrasound treatment of uterine leiomyoma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Miao Wei; Huang Jin; Wang Junhua; Wang Yuling

2010-01-01

Objective: To determine the value of dynamic trans-abdominal ultrasound after high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) treatment of uterine leiomyomas. Methods: The trans-abdominal ultrasound images of 63 patients before and after HIFU treatment of uterine leiomyomas were compared. Results: The volume and blood flow of leiomyomas were reduced after the HIFU treatment. Conclusion: Trans-abdominal ultrasound is a valuable method for evaluating the results of HIFU treatment of uterine leiomyomas. (authors)

Ultrasound pretreatment of filamentous algal biomass for enhanced biogas production.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Kwanyong; Chantrasakdakul, Phrompol; Kim, Daegi; Kong, Mingeun; Park, Ki Young

2014-06-01

The filamentous alga Hydrodictyon reticulatum harvested from a bench-scale wastewater treatment pond was used to evaluate biogas production after ultrasound pretreatment. The effects of ultrasound pretreatment at a range of 10-5000 J/mL were tested with harvested H. reticulatum. Cell disruption by ultrasound was successful and showed a higher degree of disintegration at a higher applied energy. The range of 10-5000 J/mL ultrasound was able to disintegrated H. reticulatum and the soluble COD was increased from 250 mg/L to 1000 mg/L at 2500 J/mL. The disintegrated algal biomass was digested for biogas production in batch experiments. Both cumulative gas generation and volatile solids reduction data were obtained during the digestion. Cell disintegration due to ultrasound pretreatment increased the specific biogas production and degradation rates. Using the ultrasound approach, the specific methane production at a dose of 40 J/mL increased up to 384 mL/g-VS fed that was 2.3 times higher than the untreated sample. For disintegrated samples, the volatile solids reduction was greater with increased energy input, and the degradation increased slightly to 67% at a dose of 50 J/mL. The results also indicate that disintegration of the algal cells is the essential step for efficient anaerobic digestion of algal biomass. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Cardiovascular investigations of airline pilots with excessive cardiovascular risk.

Science.gov (United States)

Wirawan, I Made Ady; Aldington, Sarah; Griffiths, Robin F; Ellis, Chris J; Larsen, Peter D

2013-06-01

This study examined the prevalence of airline pilots who have an excessive cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk score according to the New Zealand Guideline Group (NZGG) Framingham-based Risk Chart and describes their cardiovascular risk assessment and investigations. A cross-sectional study was performed among 856 pilots employed in an Oceania based airline. Pilots with elevated CVD risk that had been previously evaluated at various times over the previous 19 yr were reviewed retrospectively from the airline's medical records, and the subsequent cardiovascular investigations were then described. There were 30 (3.5%) pilots who were found to have 5-yr CVD risk score of 10-15% or higher. Of the 29 pilots who had complete cardiac investigations data, 26 pilots underwent exercise electrocardiography (ECG), 2 pilots progressed directly to coronary angiograms and 1 pilot with abnormal echocardiogram was not examined further. Of the 26 pilots, 7 had positive or borderline exercise tests, all of whom subsequently had angiograms. One patient with a negative exercise test also had a coronary angiogram. Of the 9 patients who had coronary angiograms as a consequence of screening, 5 had significant disease that required treatment and 4 had either trivial disease or normal coronary arteries. The current approach to investigate excessive cardiovascular risk in pilots relies heavily on exercise electrocardiograms as a diagnostic test, and may not be optimal either to detect disease or to protect pilots from unnecessary invasive procedures. A more comprehensive and accurate cardiac investigation algorithm to assess excessive CVD risk in pilots is required.

Translational approaches to understanding metabolic dysfunction and cardiovascular consequences of obstructive sleep apnea

Science.gov (United States)

Polotsky, Vsevolod Y.; O'Donnell, Christopher P.; Cravo, Sergio L.; Lorenzi-Filho, Geraldo; Machado, Benedito H.

2015-01-01

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is known to be independently associated with several cardiovascular diseases including hypertension, myocardial infarction, and stroke. To determine how OSA can increase cardiovascular risk, animal models have been developed to explore the underlying mechanisms and the cellular and end-organ targets of the predominant pathophysiological disturbance in OSA–intermittent hypoxia. Despite several limitations in translating data from animal models to the clinical arena, significant progress has been made in our understanding of how OSA confers increased cardiovascular risk. It is clear now that the hypoxic stress associated with OSA can elicit a broad spectrum of pathological systemic events including sympathetic activation, systemic inflammation, impaired glucose and lipid metabolism, and endothelial dysfunction, among others. This review provides an update of the basic, clinical, and translational advances in our understanding of the metabolic dysfunction and cardiovascular consequences of OSA and highlights the most recent findings and perspectives in the field. PMID:26232233

Intraoperative registered transrectal ultrasound guidance for robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy.

Science.gov (United States)

Mohareri, Omid; Ischia, Joseph; Black, Peter C; Schneider, Caitlin; Lobo, Julio; Goldenberg, Larry; Salcudean, Septimiu E

2015-01-01

To provide unencumbered real-time ultrasound image guidance during robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy, we developed a robotic transrectal ultrasound system that tracks the da Vinci® Surgical System instruments. We describe our initial clinical experience with this system. After an evaluation in a canine model, 20 patients were enrolled in the study. During each procedure the transrectal ultrasound transducer was manually positioned using a brachytherapy stabilizer to provide good imaging of the prostate. Then the transrectal ultrasound was registered to the da Vinci robot by a previously validated procedure. Finally, automatic rotation of the transrectal ultrasound was enabled such that the transrectal ultrasound imaging plane safely tracked the tip of the da Vinci instrument controlled by the surgeon, while real-time transrectal ultrasound images were relayed to the surgeon at the da Vinci console. Tracking was activated during all critical stages of the surgery. The transrectal ultrasound robot was easy to set up and use, adding 7 minutes (range 5 to 14) to the procedure. It did not require an assistant or additional control devices. Qualitative feedback was acquired from the surgeons, who found transrectal ultrasound useful in identifying the urethra while passing the dorsal venous complex suture, defining the prostate-bladder interface during bladder neck dissection, identifying the seminal vesicles and their location with respect to the rectal wall, and identifying the distal prostate boundary at the apex. Real-time, registered robotic transrectal ultrasound guidance with automatic instrument tracking during robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy is feasible and potentially useful. The results justify further studies to establish whether the approach can improve procedure outcomes. Copyright © 2015 American Urological Association Education and Research, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

General Ultrasound Imaging

Medline Plus

Full Text Available ... and treat medical conditions. Conventional ultrasound displays the images in thin, flat sections of the body. Advancements in ultrasound technology include three-dimensional (3- ...

Targeting the ROS-HIF-1-endothelin axis as a therapeutic approach for the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea-related cardiovascular complications.

Science.gov (United States)

Belaidi, Elise; Morand, Jessica; Gras, Emmanuelle; Pépin, Jean-Louis; Godin-Ribuot, Diane

2016-12-01

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is now recognized as an independent and important risk factor for cardiovascular diseases such as hypertension, coronary heart disease, heart failure and stroke. Clinical and experimental data have confirmed that intermittent hypoxia is a major contributor to these deleterious consequences. The repetitive occurrence of hypoxia-reoxygenation sequences generates significant amounts of free radicals, particularly in moderate to severe OSA patients. Moreover, in addition to hypoxia, reactive oxygen species (ROS) are potential inducers of the hypoxia inducible transcription factor-1 (HIF-1) that promotes the transcription of numerous adaptive genes some of which being deleterious for the cardiovascular system, such as the endothelin-1 gene. This review will focus on the involvement of the ROS-HIF-1-endothelin signaling pathway in OSA and intermittent hypoxia and discuss current and potential therapeutic approaches targeting this pathway to treat or prevent cardiovascular disease in moderate to severe OSA patients. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Targeting the ROS-HIF-1-endothelin axis as a therapeutic approach for the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea-related cardiovascular complications

Science.gov (United States)

Belaidi, Elise; Morand, Jessica; Gras, Emmanuelle; Pépin, Jean-Louis; Godin-Ribuot, Diane

2016-01-01

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is now recognized as an independent and important risk factor for cardiovascular diseases such as hypertension, coronary heart disease, heart failure and stroke. Clinical and experimental data have confirmed that intermittent hypoxia is a major contributor to these deleterious consequences. The repetitive occurrence of hypoxia-reoxygenation sequences generates significant amounts of free radicals, particularly in moderate to severe OSA patients. Moreover, in addition to hypoxia, reactive oxygen species (ROS) are potential inducers of the hypoxia inducible transcription factor-1 (HIF-1) that promotes the transcription of numerous adaptive genes some of which being deleterious for the cardiovascular system, such as the endothelin-1 gene. This review will focus on the involvement of the ROS-HIF-1-endotelin signaling pathway in OSA and intermittent hypoxia and discuss current and potential therapeutic approaches targeting this pathway to treat or prevent cardiovascular disease in moderate to severe OSA patients. PMID:27492897

General Ultrasound Imaging

Medline Plus

Full Text Available ... through blood vessels. Ultrasound imaging is a noninvasive medical test that helps physicians diagnose and treat medical conditions. Conventional ultrasound displays the images in thin, ...

Endoscopic ultrasound for the characterization and staging of rectal cancer. Current state of the method. Technological advances and perspectives.

Science.gov (United States)

Gersak, Mariana M; Badea, Radu; Graur, Florin; Hajja, Nadim Al; Furcea, Luminita; Dudea, Sorin M

2015-06-01

Endoscopic ultrasound is the most accurate type of examination for the assessment of rectal tumors. Over the years, the method has advanced from gray-scale examination to intravenous contrast media administration and to different types of elastography. The multimodal approach of tumors (transrectal, transvaginal) is adapted to each case. 3D ultrasound is useful for spatial representation and precise measurement of tumor formations, using CT/MR image reconstruction; color elastography is useful for tumor characterization and staging; endoscopic ultrasound using intravenous contrast agents can help study the amount of contrast agent targeted at the level of the tumor formations and contrast wash-in/wash-out time, based on the curves displayed on the device. The transvaginal approach often allows better visualization of the tumor than the transrectal approach. Performing the procedure with the rectal ampulla distended with contrast agent may be seen as an optimization of the examination methodology. All these aspects are additional methods for gray-scale endoscopic ultrasound, capable of increasing diagnostic accuracy. This paper aims at reviewing the progress of transrectal and transvaginal ultrasound, generically called endoscopic ultrasound, for rectal tumor diagnosis and staging, with emphasis on the current state of the method and its development trends.

The Indian ultrasound paradox

OpenAIRE

Akbulut-Yuksel, Mevlude; Rosenblum, Daniel

2012-01-01

The liberalization of the Indian economy in the 1990s made prenatal ultrasound technology affordable and available to a large fraction of the population. As a result, ultrasound use amongst pregnant women rose dramatically in many parts of India. This paper provides evidence on the consequences of the expansion of prenatal ultrasound use on sex-selection. We exploit state-by-cohort variation in ultrasound use in India as a unique quasi-experiment. We find that sex-selective abortion of female...

Point of Care Ultrasound

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dietrich, Christoph F; Goudie, Adrian; Chiorean, Liliana

2017-01-01

Over the last decade, the use of portable ultrasound scanners has enhanced the concept of point of care ultrasound (PoC-US), namely, "ultrasound performed at the bedside and interpreted directly by the treating clinician." PoC-US is not a replacement for comprehensive ultrasound, but rather allows...... and critical care medicine, cardiology, anesthesiology, rheumatology, obstetrics, neonatology, gynecology, gastroenterology and many other applications. In the future, PoC-US will be more diverse than ever and be included in medical student training....

Speed-accuracy trade-offs in computing spatial impulse responses for simulating medical ultrasound imaging

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Jørgen Arendt

2001-01-01

sampling frequency is unnecessary in the final signals, since the transducers used in medical ultrasound are band limited. Approaches to reduce the sampling frequency are, thus, needed to make efficient simulation programs. Field II uses time integration of the spatial impulse responses using a continuous......Medical ultrasound imaging can be simulated realistically using linear acoustics. One of the most powerful approaches is to employ spatial impulse responses. Hereby both emitted fields and pulse-echo responses from point scatterers can be determined. Also any kind of dynamic focusing...

[Ultrasound findings in rhabdomyolysis].

Science.gov (United States)

Carrillo-Esper, Raúl; Galván-Talamantes, Yazmin; Meza-Ayala, Cynthia Margarita; Cruz-Santana, Julio Alberto; Bonilla-Reséndiz, Luis Ignacio

Rhabdomyolysis is defined as skeletal muscle necrosis. Ultrasound assessment has recently become a useful tool for the diagnosis and monitoring of muscle diseases, including rhabdomyolysis. A case is presented on the ultrasound findings in a patient with rhabdomyolysis. To highlight the importance of ultrasound as an essential part in the diagnosis in rhabdomyolysis, to describe the ultrasound findings, and review the literature. A 30 year-old with post-traumatic rhabdomyolysis of both thighs. Ultrasound was performed using a Philips Sparq model with a high-frequency linear transducer (5-10MHz), in low-dimensional scanning mode (2D), in longitudinal and transverse sections at the level of both thighs. The images obtained showed disorganisation of the orientation of the muscle fibres, ground glass image, thickening of the muscular fascia, and the presence of anechoic areas. Ultrasound is a useful tool in the evaluation of rhabdomyolysis. Copyright © 2015 Academia Mexicana de Cirugía A.C. Publicado por Masson Doyma México S.A. All rights reserved.

Prostate Ultrasound

Medline Plus

Full Text Available ... be able to give a clearer picture of soft tissues that do not show up well on x-ray images. Ultrasound causes no health problems and may be repeated as often as is necessary if medically indicated. Ultrasound provides real-time imaging, making it a good tool for guiding ...

Endoscopic Ultrasound-guided Rendezvous Technique after Failed Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography: Which Approach Route Is the Best?

Science.gov (United States)

Okuno, Nozomi; Hara, Kazuo; Mizuno, Nobumasa; Hijioka, Susumu; Tajika, Masahiro; Tanaka, Tsutomu; Ishihara, Makoto; Hirayama, Yutaka; Onishi, Sachiyo; Niwa, Yasumasa; Yamao, Kenji

2017-12-01

Objective The endoscopic ultrasound-guided rendezvous technique (EUS-RV) is a salvage method for failed selective biliary cannulation. Three puncture routes have been reported, with many comparisons between the intra-hepatic and extra-hepatic biliary ducts. We used the trans-esophagus (TE) and trans-jejunum (TJ) routes. In the present study, the utility of EUS-RV for biliary access was evaluated, focusing on the approach routes. Methods and Patients In 39 patients, 42 puncture routes were evaluated in detail. EUS-RV was performed between January 2010 and December 2014. The patients were prospectively enrolled, and their clinical data were retrospectively collected. Results The patients' median age was 71 (range 29-84) years. The indications for endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) were malignant biliary obstruction in 24 patients and benign biliary disease in 15. The technical success rate was 78.6% (33/42) and was similar among approach routes (p=0.377). The overall complication rate was 16.7% (7/42) and was similar among approach routes (p=0.489). However, mediastinal emphysema occurred in 2 TE route EUS-RV patients. No EUS-RV-related deaths occurred. Conclusion EUS-RV proved reliable after failed ERCP. The selection of the appropriate route based on the patient's condition is crucial.

Medical Ultrasound Imaging.

Science.gov (United States)

Hughes, Stephen

2001-01-01

Explains the basic principles of ultrasound using everyday physics. Topics include the generation of ultrasound, basic interactions with material, and the measurement of blood flow using the Doppler effect. (Author/MM)

Real-Time Laser Ultrasound Tomography for Profilometry of Solids

Science.gov (United States)

Zarubin, V. P.; Bychkov, A. S.; Karabutov, A. A.; Simonova, V. A.; Kudinov, I. A.; Cherepetskaya, E. B.

2018-01-01

We studied the possibility of applying laser ultrasound tomography for profilometry of solids. The proposed approach provides high spatial resolution and efficiency, as well as profilometry of contaminated objects or objects submerged in liquids. The algorithms for the construction of tomograms and recognition of the profiles of studied objects using the parallel programming technology NDIVIA CUDA are proposed. A prototype of the real-time laser ultrasound profilometer was used to obtain the profiles of solid surfaces of revolution. The proposed method allows the real-time determination of the surface position for cylindrical objects with an approximation accuracy of up to 16 μm.

Focused cardiac ultrasound is feasible in the general practice setting and alters diagnosis and management of cardiac disease

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

James Yates

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Background: Ultrasound-assisted examination of the cardiovascular system with focused cardiac ultrasound by the treating physician is non-invasive and changes diagnosis and management of patient’s with suspected cardiac disease. This has not been reported in a general practice setting. Aim: To determine whether focused cardiac ultrasound performed on patients aged over 50 years changes the diagnosis and management of cardiac disease by a general practitioner. Design and setting: A prospective observational study of 80 patients aged over 50 years and who had not received echocardiography or chest CT within 12 months presenting to a general practice. Method: Clinical assessment and management of significant cardiac disorders in patients presenting to general practitioners were recorded before and after focused cardiac ultrasound. Echocardiography was performed by a medical student with sufficient training, which was verified by an expert. Differences in diagnosis and management between conventional and ultrasound-assisted assessment were recorded. Results and conclusion: Echocardiography and interpretation were acceptable in all patients. Significant cardiac disease was detected in 16 (20% patients, including aortic stenosis in 9 (11% and cardiac failure in 7 (9%, which were missed by clinical examination in 10 (62.5% of these patients. Changes in management occurred in 12 patients (15% overall and 75% of those found to have significant cardiac disease including referral for diagnostic echocardiography in 8 (10%, commencement of heart failure treatment in 3 (4% and referral to a cardiologist in 1 patient (1%. Routine focused cardiac ultrasound is feasible and frequently alters the diagnosis and management of cardiac disease in patients aged over 50 years presenting to a general practice.

Interventional ultrasound

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

VanSonnenberg, E.

1987-01-01

This book contains 12 chapters and several case studies. Some of the chapter titles are: The Interplay of Ultrasound and Computed Tomography in the Planning and Execution of Interventional Procedures: Ulltrasound Guided Biopsy; Interventioal Genitourinary Sonography; Diagnosis and Treatment of Pericardial Effusion Using Ultrasonic Guidance; and New Ultrasound-Guided Interventional Procedures--Cholecystostomy, Pancreatography, Gastrostomy

A Lattice-Boltzmann model to simulate diffractive nonlinear ultrasound beam propagation in a dissipative fluid medium

Science.gov (United States)

Abdi, Mohamad; Hajihasani, Mojtaba; Gharibzadeh, Shahriar; Tavakkoli, Jahan

2012-12-01

Ultrasound waves have been widely used in diagnostic and therapeutic medical applications. Accurate and effective simulation of ultrasound beam propagation and its interaction with tissue has been proved to be important. The nonlinear nature of the ultrasound beam propagation, especially in the therapeutic regime, plays an important role in the mechanisms of interaction with tissue. There are three main approaches in current computational fluid dynamics (CFD) methods to model and simulate nonlinear ultrasound beams: macroscopic, mesoscopic and microscopic approaches. In this work, a mesoscopic CFD method based on the Lattice-Boltzmann model (LBM) was investigated. In the developed method, the Boltzmann equation is evolved to simulate the flow of a Newtonian fluid with the collision model instead of solving the Navier-Stokes, continuity and state equations which are used in conventional CFD methods. The LBM has some prominent advantages over conventional CFD methods, including: (1) its parallel computational nature; (2) taking microscopic boundaries into account; and (3) capability of simulating in porous and inhomogeneous media. In our proposed method, the propagating medium is discretized with a square grid in 2 dimensions with 9 velocity vectors for each node. Using the developed model, the nonlinear distortion and shock front development of a finiteamplitude diffractive ultrasonic beam in a dissipative fluid medium was computed and validated against the published data. The results confirm that the LBM is an accurate and effective approach to model and simulate nonlinearity in finite-amplitude ultrasound beams with Mach numbers of up to 0.01 which, among others, falls within the range of therapeutic ultrasound regime such as high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) beams. A comparison between the HIFU nonlinear beam simulations using the proposed model and pseudospectral methods in a 2D geometry is presented.

Cranial Ultrasound/Head Ultrasound

Science.gov (United States)

... used to screen for brain conditions associated with prematurity, such as bleeding or brain tissue damage as ... or crying child will slow the examination process. Large patients are more difficult to image by ultrasound, ...

Ultrasound-based tumor movement compensation during navigated laparoscopic liver interventions.

Science.gov (United States)

Shahin, Osama; Beširević, Armin; Kleemann, Markus; Schlaefer, Alexander

2014-05-01

Image-guided navigation aims to provide better orientation and accuracy in laparoscopic interventions. However, the ability of the navigation system to reflect anatomical changes and maintain high accuracy during the procedure is crucial. This is particularly challenging in soft organs such as the liver, where surgical manipulation causes significant tumor movements. We propose a fast approach to obtain an accurate estimation of the tumor position throughout the procedure. Initially, a three-dimensional (3D) ultrasound image is reconstructed and the tumor is segmented. During surgery, the position of the tumor is updated based on newly acquired tracked ultrasound images. The initial segmentation of the tumor is used to automatically detect the tumor and update its position in the navigation system. Two experiments were conducted. First, a controlled phantom motion using a robot was performed to validate the tracking accuracy. Second, a needle navigation scenario based on pseudotumors injected into ex vivo porcine liver was studied. In the robot-based evaluation, the approach estimated the target location with an accuracy of 0.4 ± 0.3 mm. The mean navigation error in the needle experiment was 1.2 ± 0.6 mm, and the algorithm compensated for tumor shifts up to 38 mm in an average time of 1 s. We demonstrated a navigation approach based on tracked laparoscopic ultrasound (LUS), and focused on the neighborhood of the tumor. Our experimental results indicate that this approach can be used to quickly and accurately compensate for tumor movements caused by surgical manipulation during laparoscopic interventions. The proposed approach has the advantage of being based on the routinely used LUS; however, it upgrades its functionality to estimate the tumor position in 3D. Hence, the approach is repeatable throughout surgery, and enables high navigation accuracy to be maintained.

Ultrasound fields in an attenuating medium

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Jørgen Arendt; Gandhi,, D; O'Brien,, W.D., Jr.

1993-01-01

of the rectangles and sums all contributions to arrive at the spatial impulse response for the aperture and field point. This approach makes it possible to model all transducer apertures, and the program can readily calculate the emitted, pulse-echo and continuous wave field. Attenuation is included by splitting...... it into a frequency dependent part and frequency independent part. The latter results in an attenuation factor that is multiplied onto the responses from the individual elements, and the frequency dependent part is handled by attenuating the basic one-dimensional pulse. The influence on ultrasound fields from......Ultrasound fields propagating in tissue will undergo changes in shape not only due to diffraction, but also due to the frequency dependent attenuation. Linear fields can be fairly well predicted for a non-attenuating medium like water by using the Tupholme-Stepanishen method for calculating...

Tracers and contrast agents in cardiovascular imaging: present and future

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marmion, M.; Deutsch, E.

1996-01-01

This brief article addresses the current status and future potential of nuclear medicine, X-ray computed tomography (CT), ultrasound (US), and magnetic resonance (MR) imaging in the diagnosis of cardiovascular diseases. The currently perceived advantages and disadvantages, as well as the possible future roles, of each of the modalities with regard to the evaluation of coronary artery disease are delineated. The certain advent of Mr and US myocardial contrast agents, combined with the inexorable pressures of health care reform, will alter the future usage patterns of all four modalities. Future debates about which modality should be used in which clinical situation will be based not on 'anatomy vs function', nor on the issues of cost effectiveness and patient outcomes

Noninvasive pulsed focused ultrasound allows spatiotemporal control of targeted homing for multiple stem cell types in murine skeletal muscle and the magnitude of cell homing can be increased through repeated applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Burks, Scott R; Ziadloo, Ali; Kim, Saejeong J; Nguyen, Ben A; Frank, Joseph A

2013-11-01

Stem cells are promising therapeutics for cardiovascular diseases, and i.v. injection is the most desirable route of administration clinically. Subsequent homing of exogenous stem cells to pathological loci is frequently required for therapeutic efficacy and is mediated by chemoattractants (cell adhesion molecules, cytokines, and growth factors). Homing processes are inefficient and depend on short-lived pathological inflammation that limits the window of opportunity for cell injections. Noninvasive pulsed focused ultrasound (pFUS), which emphasizes mechanical ultrasound-tissue interactions, can be precisely targeted in the body and is a promising approach to target and maximize stem cell delivery by stimulating chemoattractant expression in pFUS-treated tissue prior to cell infusions. We demonstrate that pFUS is nondestructive to murine skeletal muscle tissue (no necrosis, hemorrhage, or muscle stem cell activation) and initiates a largely M2-type macrophage response. We also demonstrate that local upregulation of chemoattractants in pFUS-treated skeletal muscle leads to enhance homing, permeability, and retention of human mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) and human endothelial precursor cells (EPC). Furthermore, the magnitude of MSC or EPC homing was increased when pFUS treatments and cell infusions were repeated daily. This study demonstrates that pFUS defines transient "molecular zip codes" of elevated chemoattractants in targeted muscle tissue, which effectively provides spatiotemporal control and tunability of the homing process for multiple stem cell types. pFUS is a clinically translatable modality that may ultimately improve homing efficiency and flexibility of cell therapies for cardiovascular diseases. © AlphaMed Press.

Tracked "Pick-Up" Ultrasound for Robot-Assisted Minimally Invasive Surgery.

Science.gov (United States)

Schneider, Caitlin; Nguan, Christopher; Rohling, Robert; Salcudean, Septimiu

2016-02-01

We present a novel "pick-up" ultrasound transducer for intraabdominal robot-assisted minimally invasive surgery. Such a "pick-up" ultrasound transducer is inserted through an abdominal incision at the beginning of the procedure and remains in the abdominal cavity throughout, eliminating the need for a dedicated port or a patient bedside surgical assistant. The transducer has a handle that can be grasped in a repeatable manner using a da Vinci Prograsp tool, allowing the transducer to be accurately manipulated by the surgeon using the da Vinci Robot. This is one way to enable 3-D tracking of the transducer, and, thus, mapping of the vasculature. The 3-D vascular images can be used to register preoperative CT to intraoperative camera images. To demonstrate the feasibility of the approach, we use an ultrasound vessel phantom to register a CT surface model to extracted ultrasound vessel models. The 3-D vascular phantom images are generated by segmenting B-mode images and tracking the pick-up ultrasound transducer with the da Vinci kinematics, internal electromagnetic sensor, or visible fiducials suitable for camera tracking. Reconstruction results using da Vinci kinematics for tracking give a target registration error of 5.4 ± 1.7 mm.

Office-based ultrasound screening for abdominal aortic aneurysm.

Science.gov (United States)

Blois, Beau

2012-03-01

To assess the efficacy of an office-based, family physician–administered ultrasound examination to screen for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA). A prospective observational study. Consecutive patients were approached by nonphysician staff. Rural family physician offices in Grand Forks and Revelstoke, BC. The Canadian Society for Vascular Surgery screening recommendations for AAA were used to help select patients who were at risk of AAA. All men 65 years of age or older were included. Women 65 years of age or older were included if they were current smokers or had diabetes, hypertension, a history of coronary artery disease, or a family history of AAA. A focused “quick screen”, which measured the maximal diameter of the abdominal aorta using point-of-care ultrasound technology, was performed in the office by a resident physician trained in emergency ultrasonography. Each patient was then booked for a criterion standard scan (i.e., a conventional abdominal ultrasound scan performed by a technician and interpreted by a radiologist). The maximal abdominal aortic diameter measured by ultrasound in the office was compared with that measured by the criterion standard method. The time to screen each patient was recorded. Forty-five patients were included in data analysis; 62% of participants were men. The mean age was 73 years. The mean pairwise difference between the office-based ultrasound scan and the criterion standard scan was not statistically significant. The mean absolute difference between the 2 scans was 0.20 cm (95% CI 0.15 to 0.25 cm). Correlation between the scans was 0.81. The office-based ultrasound scan had both a sensitivity and a specificity of 100%. The mean time to screen each patient was 212 seconds (95% CI 194 to 230 seconds). Abdominal aortic aneurysm screening can be safely performed in the office by family physicians who are trained to use point-of- care ultrasound technology. The screening test can be completed within the time constraints of a

Quantitative Ultrasound Measurements at the Heel

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Daugschies, M.; Brixen, K.; Hermann, P.

2015-01-01

Calcaneal quantitative ultrasound can be used to predict osteoporotic fracture risk, but its ability to monitor therapy is unclear possibly because of its limited precision. We developed a quantitative ultrasound device (foot ultrasound scanner) that measures the speed of sound at the heel...... with the foot ultrasound scanner reduced precision errors by half (p quantitative ultrasound measurements is feasible. (E-mail: m.daugschies@rad.uni-kiel.de) (C) 2015 World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology....

TU-EF-210-04: AAPM Task Groups in Interventional Ultrasound Imaging and Therapy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Farahani, K. [National Cancer Institute (United States)

2015-06-15

The use of therapeutic ultrasound to provide targeted therapy is an active research area that has a broad application scope. The invited talks in this session will address currently implemented strategies and protocols for both hyperthermia and ablation applications using therapeutic ultrasound. The role of both ultrasound and MRI in the monitoring and assessment of these therapies will be explored in both pre-clinical and clinical applications. Katherine Ferrara: High Intensity Focused Ultrasound, Drug Delivery, and Immunotherapy Rajiv Chopra: Translating Localized Doxorubicin Delivery to Pediatric Oncology using MRI-guided HIFU Elisa Konofagou: Real-time Ablation Monitoring and Lesion Quantification using Harmonic Motion Imaging Keyvan Farahani: AAPM Task Groups in Interventional Ultrasound Imaging and Therapy Learning Objectives: Understand the role of ultrasound in localized drug delivery and the effects of immunotherapy when used in conjunction with ultrasound therapy. Understand potential targeted drug delivery clinical applications including pediatric oncology. Understand the technical requirements for performing targeted drug delivery. Understand how radiation-force approaches can be used to both monitor and assess high intensity focused ultrasound ablation therapy. Understand the role of AAPM task groups in ultrasound imaging and therapies. Chopra: Funding from Cancer Prevention and Research Initiative of Texas (CPRIT), Award R1308 Evelyn and M.R. Hudson Foundation; Research Support from Research Contract with Philips Healthcare; COI are Co-founder of FUS Instruments Inc Ferrara: Supported by NIH, UCDavis and California (CIRM and BHCE) Farahani: In-kind research support from Philips Healthcare.

TU-EF-210-04: AAPM Task Groups in Interventional Ultrasound Imaging and Therapy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Farahani, K.

2015-01-01

The use of therapeutic ultrasound to provide targeted therapy is an active research area that has a broad application scope. The invited talks in this session will address currently implemented strategies and protocols for both hyperthermia and ablation applications using therapeutic ultrasound. The role of both ultrasound and MRI in the monitoring and assessment of these therapies will be explored in both pre-clinical and clinical applications. Katherine Ferrara: High Intensity Focused Ultrasound, Drug Delivery, and Immunotherapy Rajiv Chopra: Translating Localized Doxorubicin Delivery to Pediatric Oncology using MRI-guided HIFU Elisa Konofagou: Real-time Ablation Monitoring and Lesion Quantification using Harmonic Motion Imaging Keyvan Farahani: AAPM Task Groups in Interventional Ultrasound Imaging and Therapy Learning Objectives: Understand the role of ultrasound in localized drug delivery and the effects of immunotherapy when used in conjunction with ultrasound therapy. Understand potential targeted drug delivery clinical applications including pediatric oncology. Understand the technical requirements for performing targeted drug delivery. Understand how radiation-force approaches can be used to both monitor and assess high intensity focused ultrasound ablation therapy. Understand the role of AAPM task groups in ultrasound imaging and therapies. Chopra: Funding from Cancer Prevention and Research Initiative of Texas (CPRIT), Award R1308 Evelyn and M.R. Hudson Foundation; Research Support from Research Contract with Philips Healthcare; COI are Co-founder of FUS Instruments Inc Ferrara: Supported by NIH, UCDavis and California (CIRM and BHCE) Farahani: In-kind research support from Philips Healthcare

Beat to beat variability in cardiovascular variables: noise or music?

Science.gov (United States)

Appel, M. L.; Berger, R. D.; Saul, J. P.; Smith, J. M.; Cohen, R. J.

1989-01-01

Cardiovascular variables such as heart rate, arterial blood pressure, stroke volume and the shape of electrocardiographic complexes all fluctuate on a beat to beat basis. These fluctuations have traditionally been ignored or, at best, treated as noise to be averaged out. The variability in cardiovascular signals reflects the homeodynamic interplay between perturbations to cardiovascular function and the dynamic response of the cardiovascular regulatory systems. Modern signal processing techniques provide a means of analyzing beat to beat fluctuations in cardiovascular signals, so as to permit a quantitative, noninvasive or minimally invasive method of assessing closed loop hemodynamic regulation and cardiac electrical stability. This method promises to provide a new approach to the clinical diagnosis and management of alterations in cardiovascular regulation and stability.

Pharmacological Strategies to Retard Cardiovascular Aging

Science.gov (United States)

Alfaras, Irene; Di Germanio, Clara; Bernier, Michel; Csiszar, Anna; Ungvari, Zoltan; Lakatta, Edward G.; de Cabo, Rafael

2016-01-01

Aging is the major risk factor for cardiovascular diseases (CVD), which are the leading cause of death in the United States. Traditionally, the effort to prevent CVD has been focused on addressing the conventional risk factors, including hypertension, hyperglycemia, hypercholesterolemia, and high circulating levels of triglycerides. However, recent preclinical studies have identified new approaches to combat CVD. Calorie restriction has been reproducibly shown to prolong lifespan in various experimental model animals. This has led to the development of calorie restriction mimetics and other pharmacological interventions capable to delay age-related diseases. In this review, we will address the mechanistic effects of aging per se on the cardiovascular system and focus on the pro-longevity benefits of various therapeutic strategies that support cardiovascular health. PMID:27174954

Cardiovascular Molecular Imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Kyung Han

2009-01-01

Molecular imaging strives to visualize processes in living subjects at the molecular level. Monitoring biochemical processes at this level will allow us to directly track biological processes and signaling events that lead to pathophysiological abnormalities, and help make personalized medicine a reality by allowing evaluation of therapeutic efficacies on an individual basis. Although most molecular imaging techniques emerged from the field of oncology, they have now gradually gained acceptance by the cardiovascular community. Hence, the availability of dedicated high-resolution small animal imaging systems and specific targeting imaging probes is now enhancing our understanding of cardiovascular diseases and expediting the development of newer therapies. Examples include imaging approaches to evaluate and track the progress of recent genetic and cellular therapies for treatment of myocardial ischemia. Other areas include in vivo monitoring of such key molecular processes as angiogenesis and apoptosis. Cardiovascular molecular imaging is already an important research tool in preclinical experiments. The challenge that lies ahead is to implement these techniques into the clinics so that they may help fulfill the promise of molecular therapies and personalized medicine, as well as to resolve disappointments and controversies surrounding the field

Enhancement or Reduction of Sonochemical Activity of Pulsed Ultrasound Compared to Continuous Ultrasound at 20 kHz?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yujing Sun

2013-04-01

Full Text Available Little is known about the efficacy of pulsed ultrasound compared with continuous ultrasound. Previous studies on the efficacy of pulsed ultrasound were not systematic and gave different results. In this study, the effects of pulse length, pulse interval, pulse length × pulse intervals, and treatment time on sonochemical activity were investigated using a simple oxidation of iodide method and a comparison of the efficacy of pulsed ultrasound and continuous ultrasound is made. The results showed that the main factor in the efficacy of pulsed ultrasound was pulse length when pulse length varied from 0.1 to 1 s. However, the main factors were pulse length, the pulse length × pulse interval, and pulse interval when pulse length varied from 1 to 9 s. Pulsed ultrasound had no effect when the pulse length was 0.1 s; however, the sonochemical activity of pulsed ultrasound decreased compared to continuous ultrasound as the pulse length varied from 0.1 to 1 s. The sonochemical activity of pulsed ultrasound either increased or decreased compared to continuous ultrasound when pulse length varied from 1 to 9 s, but the increase or decrease had no clear trend. The sonochemical activity was constant at Ton/Toff = 2 s/2 s and slightly decreased at Ton/Toff = 3 s/2 s with time, whereas the sonochemical activity of continuous ultrasound significantly decreased with time. Enhancement or reduction of sonochemical activity of pulsed ultrasound compared to continuous ultrasound depended on the pulse length and pulse interval.

Ultrasound-Guided Femoral Nerve Block to Facilitate the Closed Reduction of a Dislocated Hip Prosthesis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Edward Carlin

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Prosthetic hip dislocation is a common but unfortunate complication in patients who have undergone total hip arthroplasty. Successful closed reduction in the emergency department leads to a reduced length of stay and rate of hospitalization. 1, 2 The use of regional anesthesia by femoral nerve block represents a novel approach for controlling pain in patients with hip pathologies. 3 Ultrasound-guided approaches have been used with great success for controlling pain in patients with hip fractures. 4, 5 Here we report the case of a 90-year-old male who presented with a dislocated hip prosthesis, which was subsequently corrected with closed reduction following delivery of regional anesthesia to the femoral nerve under ultrasound guidance. To our knowledge, this represents the first reported use of an ultrasound-guided femoral nerve block to facilitate closed reduction of a dislocated prosthetic hip, and highlights a novel approach that avoids the use of procedural sedation in an elderly patient.

Resolution enhancement in medical ultrasound imaging.

Science.gov (United States)

Ploquin, Marie; Basarab, Adrian; Kouamé, Denis

2015-01-01

Image resolution enhancement is a problem of considerable interest in all medical imaging modalities. Unlike general purpose imaging or video processing, for a very long time, medical image resolution enhancement has been based on optimization of the imaging devices. Although some recent works purport to deal with image postprocessing, much remains to be done regarding medical image enhancement via postprocessing, especially in ultrasound imaging. We face a resolution improvement issue in the case of medical ultrasound imaging. We propose to investigate this problem using multidimensional autoregressive (AR) models. Noting that the estimation of the envelope of an ultrasound radio frequency (RF) signal is very similar to the estimation of classical Fourier-based power spectrum estimation, we theoretically show that a domain change and a multidimensional AR model can be used to achieve super-resolution in ultrasound imaging provided the order is estimated correctly. Here, this is done by means of a technique that simultaneously estimates the order and the parameters of a multidimensional model using relevant regression matrix factorization. Doing so, the proposed method specifically fits ultrasound imaging and provides an estimated envelope. Moreover, an expression that links the theoretical image resolution to both the image acquisition features (such as the point spread function) and a postprocessing feature (the AR model) order is derived. The overall contribution of this work is threefold. First, it allows for automatic resolution improvement. Through a simple model and without any specific manual algorithmic parameter tuning, as is used in common methods, the proposed technique simply and exclusively uses the ultrasound RF signal as input and provides the improved B-mode as output. Second, it allows for the a priori prediction of the improvement in resolution via the knowledge of the parametric model order before actual processing. Finally, to achieve the

Ultrasound-guided endoscopic transgastric drainage of a post ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Despite of a number of techniques in the armentarium of the paediatric surgeon, the management of pancreatic pseudocysts remains a challenge. We report on a case of a 5-year-old child with a post-traumatic pancreatic pseudocyst who was successfully treated with endoscopic ultrasound-guided transgastric approach.

General Ultrasound Imaging

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Full Text Available Toggle navigation Test/Treatment Patient Type Screening/Wellness Disease/Condition Safety En Español More Info Images/Videos About Us News Physician Resources Professions Site Index A-Z General Ultrasound Ultrasound imaging ...

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Full Text Available ... may produce minimal discomfort. If a Doppler ultrasound study is performed, you may actually hear pulse-like sounds that change in pitch as the blood flow is monitored and measured. Most ultrasound examinations ...

Basics of biomedical ultrasound for engineers

CERN Document Server

Azhari, Haim

2010-01-01

"Basics of Biomedical Ultrasound for Engineers is a structured textbook for university engineering courses in biomedical ultrasound and for researchers in the field. This book offers a tool for building a solid understanding of biomedical ultrasound, and leads the novice through the field in a step-by-step manner. The book begins with the most basic definitions of waves, proceeds to ultrasounds in fluids, and then delves into solid ultrasounds, the most complicated kind of ultrasound. It encompasses a wide range of topics within biomedical ultrasound, from conceptual definitions of waves to the intricacies of focusing devices, transducers, and acoustic fields"--Provided by publisher.

A Diagnostic Ultrasound Imaging System

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Seong Woo

1999-01-01

The ability to see the internal organs of the human body in a noninvasive way is a powerful diagnostic tool of modern medicine. Among these imaging modalities such as X-ray, MRI, and ultrasound. MRI and ultrasound are presenting much less risk of undesirable damage of both patient and examiner. In fact, no deleterious effects have been reported as a result of clinical examination by using MRI and ultrasound diagnostic equipment. As a result, their market volume has been rapidly increased. MRI has a good resolution. but there are a few disadvantages such as high price. non-real-time imaging capability. and expensive diagnostic cost. On the other hand, the ultrasound imaging system has inherently poor resolution as compared with X-ray and MRI. In spite of its poor resolution, the ultrasound diagnostic equipment is lower in price and has an ability of real-time imaging as compared with the others. As a result, the ultrasound imaging system has become general and essential modality for imaging the internal organs of human body. In this review various researches and developments to enhance the resolution of the ultrasound images are explained and future trends of the ultrasound imaging technology are described

Blood velocity estimation using ultrasound and spectral iterative adaptive approaches

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gudmundson, Erik; Jakobsson, Andreas; Jensen, Jørgen Arendt

2011-01-01

-mode images are interleaved with the Doppler emissions. Furthermore, the techniques are shown, using both simplified and more realistic Field II simulations as well as in vivo data, to outperform current state-of-the-art techniques, allowing for accurate estimation of the blood velocity spectrum using only 30......This paper proposes two novel iterative data-adaptive spectral estimation techniques for blood velocity estimation using medical ultrasound scanners. The techniques make no assumption on the sampling pattern of the emissions or the depth samples, allowing for duplex mode transmissions where B...

General Ultrasound Imaging

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Full Text Available ... flat sections of the body. Advancements in ultrasound technology include three-dimensional (3-D) ultrasound that formats ... legs, neck and/or brain (in infants and children) or within various body organs such as the ...

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Full Text Available ... top of page What are the benefits vs. risks? Benefits Most ultrasound scanning is noninvasive (no needles ... procedures such as needle biopsies and fluid aspiration. Risks For standard diagnostic ultrasound , there are no known ...

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Full Text Available ... ultrasound. top of page How does the procedure work? Ultrasound imaging is based on the same principles ... move through vessels. The movement of blood cells causes a change in pitch of the reflected sound ...

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Full Text Available ... flat sections of the body. Advancements in ultrasound technology include three-dimensional (3-D) ultrasound that formats ... color picture. It can also convert blood flow information into a distinctive sound that can be heard ...

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Full Text Available ... flat sections of the body. Advancements in ultrasound technology include three-dimensional (3-D) ultrasound that formats ... care physician, or to the physician or other healthcare provider who requested the exam. Usually, the referring ...

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Full Text Available ... size, shape and consistency (whether the object is solid or filled with fluid). In medicine, ultrasound is ... ultrasound, measures the direction and speed of blood cells as they move through vessels. The movement of ...

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Full Text Available ... need to be returned to the transducer for analysis. Ultrasound has difficulty penetrating bone and, therefore, can ... ultrasound procedure View full size with caption Pediatric Content Some imaging tests and treatments have special pediatric ...

General Ultrasound Imaging

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Full Text Available ... procedure? Ultrasound examinations can help to diagnose a variety of conditions and to assess organ damage following ... the Ultrasound-Guided Breast Biopsy page . diagnose a variety of heart conditions, including valve problems and congestive ...

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Full Text Available ... ultrasound. top of page How does the procedure work? Ultrasound imaging is based on the same principles ... have special pediatric considerations. The teddy bear denotes child-specific content. Related Articles and Media Angioplasty and ...

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Full Text Available ... flat sections of the body. Advancements in ultrasound technology include three-dimensional (3-D) ultrasound that formats ... possible charges you will incur. Web page review process: This Web page is reviewed regularly by a ...

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Full Text Available ... ultrasound. top of page How does the procedure work? Ultrasound imaging is based on the same principles ... more extensive exams may take up to an hour. When the examination is complete, you may be ...

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Full Text Available ... Imaging? Ultrasound waves are disrupted by air or gas; therefore ultrasound is not an ideal imaging technique ... with caption Pediatric Content Some imaging tests and treatments have special pediatric considerations. The teddy bear denotes ...

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Full Text Available ... Ultrasound is the preferred imaging modality for the diagnosis and monitoring of pregnant women and their unborn ... needle biopsies and fluid aspiration. Risks For standard diagnostic ultrasound , there are no known harmful effects on ...

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Full Text Available ... More Info Images/Videos About Us News Physician Resources Professions Site Index A-Z General Ultrasound Ultrasound ... computer or television monitor. The image is created based on the amplitude (loudness), frequency (pitch) and time ...

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Full Text Available ... in infections With knowledge about the speed and volume of blood flow gained from a Doppler ultrasound ... the body while other areas, especially air-filled lungs, are poorly suited for ultrasound. top of page ...

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Full Text Available ... 3-D) ultrasound that formats the sound wave data into 3-D images. A Doppler ultrasound study ... to do the scanning. The transducer is a small hand-held device that resembles a microphone, attached ...

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Full Text Available ... flat sections of the body. Advancements in ultrasound technology include three-dimensional (3-D) ultrasound that formats ... sonography is performed using the same transducer. Rarely, young children may need to be sedated in order ...

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Full Text Available ... image. Ultrasound examinations do not use ionizing radiation (as used in x-rays ), thus there is no ... structure and movement of the body's internal organs, as well as blood flowing through blood vessels. Ultrasound ...

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Full Text Available ... flat sections of the body. Advancements in ultrasound technology include three-dimensional (3-D) ultrasound that formats ... American College of Radiology (ACR) and the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA), comprising physicians with expertise ...

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Full Text Available ... ultrasound. top of page How does the procedure work? Ultrasound imaging is based on the same principles ... about this beforehand and be made aware of food and drink restrictions that may be needed prior ...

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Full Text Available ... ultrasound. top of page How does the procedure work? Ultrasound imaging is based on the same principles ... the transducer is pressed against the skin, it directs small pulses of inaudible, high-frequency sound waves ...

Mesoporous metal catalysts formed by ultrasound

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schaeferhans, Jana; Pazos Perez, Nicolas; Andreeva, Daria [Physikalische Chemie II, Universitaet Bayreuth (Germany)

2010-07-01

We study the ultrasound-driven formation of mesoporous metal sponges. The collapse of acoustic cavitations leads to very high temperatures and pressures on very short scales. Therefore, structures may be formed and quenched far from equilibrium. Mechanism of metal modification by ultrasound is complex and involves a variety of aspects. We propose that modification of metal particles and formation of mesoporous inner structures can be achieved due to thermal etching of metals by ultrasound stimulated high speed jets of liquid. Simultaneously, oxidation of metal surfaces by free radicals produced in water during cavitation stabilizes developed metal structures. Duration and intensity of the ultrasonication treatment is able to control the structure and morphology of metal sponges. We expect that this approach to the formation of nanoscale composite sponges is universal and opens perspective for a whole new class of catalytic materials that can be prepared in a one-step process. The developed method makes it possible to control the sponge morphology and can be used for formation of modern types of catalysts. For example, the sonication technique allows to combine the fabrication of mesoporous support and distribution of metal (Cu, Pd, Au, Pt etc.) nanoparticles in its pores into a single step.

The effect of blood acceleration on the ultrasound power Doppler spectrum

Science.gov (United States)

Matchenko, O. S.; Barannik, E. A.

2017-09-01

The purpose of the present work was to study the influence of blood acceleration and time window length on the power Doppler spectrum for Gaussian ultrasound beams. The work has been carried out on the basis of continuum model of the ultrasound scattering from inhomogeneities in fluid flow. Correlation function of fluctuations has been considered for uniformly accelerated scatterers, and the resulting power Doppler spectra have been calculated. It is shown that within the initial phase of systole uniformly accelerated slow blood flow in pulmonary artery and aorta tends to make the correlation function about 4.89 and 7.83 times wider, respectively, than the sensitivity function of typical probing system. Given peak flow velocities, the sensitivity function becomes, vice versa, about 4.34 and 3.84 times wider, respectively, then the correlation function. In these limiting cases, the resulting spectra can be considered as Gaussian. The optimal time window duration decreases with increasing acceleration of blood flow and equals to 11.62 and 7.54 ms for pulmonary artery and aorta, respectively. The width of the resulting power Doppler spectrum is shown to be defined mostly by the wave vector of the incident field, the duration of signal and the acceleration of scatterers in the case of low flow velocities. In the opposite case geometrical properties of probing field and the average velocity itself are more essential. In the sense of signal-noise ratio, the optimal duration of time window can be found. Abovementioned results may contribute to the improved techniques of Doppler ultrasound diagnostics of cardiovascular system.

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Full Text Available ... flat sections of the body. Advancements in ultrasound technology include three-dimensional (3-D) ultrasound that formats ... at these links. About Us | Contact Us | FAQ | Privacy | Terms of Use | Links | Site Map Copyright © 2018 ...

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Full Text Available ... 3-D) ultrasound that formats the sound wave data into 3-D images. A Doppler ultrasound study ... at these links. About Us | Contact Us | FAQ | Privacy | Terms of Use | Links | Site Map Copyright © 2018 ...

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Full Text Available ... testing. image the breasts and guide biopsy of breast cancer ( see the Ultrasound-Guided Breast Biopsy page . diagnose ... Ultrasound is the preferred imaging modality for the diagnosis and monitoring of pregnant women and their unborn ...

Transbiliary intravascular ultrasound-guided diagnostic biopsy of an inaccessible pancreatic head mass

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jeffrey Forris Beecham Chick, MD, MPH, DABR

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Percutaneous image-guided biopsies of pancreatic malignancies may prove challenging and nondiagnostic due to a variety of anatomic considerations. For patients with complex post-surgical anatomy, such as a Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, diagnosis via endoscopic ultrasound with fine-needle aspiration may not be possible because of an inability to reach the proximal duodenum. This report describes the first diagnostic case of transbiliary intravascular ultrasound-guided biopsy of a pancreatic head mass in a patient with prior Roux-en-Y gastric bypass for which a diagnosis could not be achieved via percutaneous and endoscopic approaches. Transbiliary intravascular ultrasound-guided biopsy resulted in a diagnosis of pancreatic adenocarcinoma, allowing the initiation of chemotherapy.

CT and Ultrasound Guided Stereotactic High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU)

Science.gov (United States)

Wood, Bradford J.; Yanof, J.; Frenkel, V.; Viswanathan, A.; Dromi, S.; Oh, K.; Kruecker, J.; Bauer, C.; Seip, R.; Kam, A.; Li, K. C. P.

2006-05-01

To demonstrate the feasibility of CT and B-mode Ultrasound (US) targeted HIFU, a prototype coaxial focused ultrasound transducer was registered and integrated to a CT scanner. CT and diagnostic ultrasound were used for HIFU targeting and monitoring, with the goals of both thermal ablation and non-thermal enhanced drug delivery. A 1 megahertz coaxial ultrasound transducer was custom fabricated and attached to a passive position-sensing arm and an active six degree-of-freedom robotic arm via a CT stereotactic frame. The outer therapeutic transducer with a 10 cm fixed focal zone was coaxially mounted to an inner diagnostic US transducer (2-4 megahertz, Philips Medical Systems). This coaxial US transducer was connected to a modified commercial focused ultrasound generator (Focus Surgery, Indianapolis, IN) with a maximum total acoustic power of 100 watts. This pre-clinical paradigm was tested for ability to heat tissue in phantoms with monitoring and navigation from CT and live US. The feasibility of navigation via image fusion of CT with other modalities such as PET and MRI was demonstrated. Heated water phantoms were tested for correlation between CT numbers and temperature (for ablation monitoring). The prototype transducer and integrated CT/US imaging system enabled simultaneous multimodality imaging and therapy. Pre-clinical phantom models validated the treatment paradigm and demonstrated integrated multimodality guidance and treatment monitoring. Temperature changes during phantom cooling corresponded to CT number changes. Contrast enhanced or non-enhanced CT numbers may potentially be used to monitor thermal ablation with HIFU. Integrated CT, diagnostic US, and therapeutic focused ultrasound bridges a gap between diagnosis and therapy. Preliminary results show that the multimodality system may represent a relatively inexpensive, accessible, and simple method of both targeting and monitoring HIFU effects. Small animal pre-clinical models may be translated to large

General Ultrasound Imaging

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Full Text Available ... Ultrasound is safe, noninvasive, and does not use ionizing radiation. This procedure requires little to no special preparation. ... create an image. Ultrasound examinations do not use ionizing radiation (as used in x-rays ), thus there is ...

Children's (Pediatric) Abdominal Ultrasound Imaging

Science.gov (United States)

... Physician Resources Professions Site Index A-Z Children's (Pediatric) Ultrasound - Abdomen Children’s (pediatric) ultrasound imaging of the ... abdomen using ultrasound. View full size with caption Pediatric Content Some imaging tests and treatments have special ...

Evolution of contrast agents for ultrasound imaging and ultrasound-mediated drug delivery

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vera ePaefgen

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Ultrasound is one of the most frequently used diagnostic methods. It is a non-invasive, comparably inexpensive imaging method with a broad spectrum of applications, which can be increased even more by using bubbles as contrast agents. There are various different types of bubbles: filled with different gases, composed of soft- or hard-shell materials, and ranging in size from nano- to micrometers. These intravascular contrast agents enable functional analyses, e.g. to acquire organ perfusion in real-time. Molecular analyses are achieved by coupling specific ligands to the bubbles’ shell, which bind to marker molecules in the area of interest. Bubbles can also be loaded with or attached to drugs, peptides or genes and can be destroyed by ultrasound pulses to locally release the entrapped agent. Recent studies show that ultrasound contrast agents are also valuable tools in hyperthermia-induced ablation therapy of tumors, or can increase cellular uptake of locally released drugs by enhancing membrane permeability. This review summarizes important steps in the development of ultrasound contrast agents and introduces the current clinical applications of contrast-enhanced ultrasound. Additionally, an overview of the recent developments in ultrasound probe design for functional and molecular diagnosis as well as for drug delivery is given.

Increasing vaccine production using pulsed ultrasound waves.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jida Xing

Full Text Available Vaccination is a safe and effective approach to prevent deadly diseases. To increase vaccine production, we propose that a mechanical stimulation can enhance protein production. In order to prove this hypothesis, Sf9 insect cells were used to evaluate the increase in the expression of a fusion protein from hepatitis B virus (HBV S1/S2. We discovered that the ultrasound stimulation at a frequency of 1.5 MHz, intensity of 60 mW/cm2, for a duration of 10 minutes per day increased HBV S1/S2 by 27%. We further derived a model for transport through a cell membrane under the effect of ultrasound waves, tested the key assumptions of the model through a molecular dynamics simulation package, NAMD (Nanoscale Molecular Dynamics program and utilized CHARMM force field in a steered molecular dynamics environment. The results show that ultrasound waves can increase cell permeability, which, in turn, can enhance nutrient / waste exchange thus leading to enhanced vaccine production. This finding is very meaningful in either shortening vaccine production time, or increasing the yield of proteins for use as vaccines.

[An easy, safe and affective method for the treatment of intussusception: ultrasound-guided hydrostatic reduction].

Science.gov (United States)

Ülger, Fatma Esra Bahadır; Ülger, Aykut; Karakaya, Ali Erdal; Tüten, Fatih; Katı, Ömer; Çolak, Mustafa

2014-03-01

Intussusception is one of the important causes of intestinal obstruction in children. Hydrostatic reduction under ultrasound guidance is a popular treatment method for intussusception. In the present study, we aimed to explain the demographic characteristics of and treatment approaches in patients diagnosed with intussusception by ultrasound. Forty-one patients diagnosed with intussusception by ultrasound between August 2011 and May 2013 were retrospectively analyzed. Twenty-four of these patients who had no contraindications had been treated with ultrasound-guided hydrostatic reduction. Twenty-four of the patients were male and 17 were female, a 1.4/1 male-to-female ratio. The majority of the patients were between the ages of 6-24 months and 2-5 years. The mean age was 31.12±26.32 months (range 3-125). Patients were more frequently diagnosed in April and May. Seventeen patients who had clinical contraindications enrolled directly for surgery. In 20 of the 24 patients who underwent ultrasound-guided hydrostatic reduction, reduction was achieved. Three experienced recurrence. In two of these patients, successful reduction was achieved with the second attempt. The remaining patient was enrolled for surgery. Hydrostatic reduction was performed 26 times on these 24 patients, and in 22, success was achieved (84.6%). No procedure-related complications occurred in the patients. Ultrasound-guided hydrostatic reduction, with its high success rates and lack of radiation risk, should be the first choice therapeutic approach for children diagnosed with intussusception.

Children's (Pediatric) Abdominal Ultrasound Imaging

Medline Plus

Full Text Available ... child's abdominal ultrasound examination. Doppler ultrasound , also called color Doppler ultrasonography, is a special ultrasound technique that ... and processes the sounds and creates graphs or color pictures that represent the flow of blood through ...

Children's (Pediatric) Abdominal Ultrasound Imaging

Medline Plus

Full Text Available ... Physician Resources Professions Site Index A-Z Children's (Pediatric) Ultrasound - Abdomen Children’s (pediatric) ultrasound imaging of the ... abdomen using ultrasound. View full size with caption Pediatric Content Some imaging tests and treatments have special ...

Children's (Pediatric) Abdominal Ultrasound Imaging

Medline Plus

Full Text Available ... News Physician Resources Professions Site Index A-Z Children's (Pediatric) Ultrasound - Abdomen Children’s (pediatric) ultrasound imaging of ... 30 minutes. top of page What will my child experience during and after the procedure? Ultrasound examinations ...

Animal models of cardiovascular diseases.

Science.gov (United States)

Zaragoza, Carlos; Gomez-Guerrero, Carmen; Martin-Ventura, Jose Luis; Blanco-Colio, Luis; Lavin, Begoña; Mallavia, Beñat; Tarin, Carlos; Mas, Sebastian; Ortiz, Alberto; Egido, Jesus

2011-01-01

Cardiovascular diseases are the first leading cause of death and morbidity in developed countries. The use of animal models have contributed to increase our knowledge, providing new approaches focused to improve the diagnostic and the treatment of these pathologies. Several models have been developed to address cardiovascular complications, including atherothrombotic and cardiac diseases, and the same pathology have been successfully recreated in different species, including small and big animal models of disease. However, genetic and environmental factors play a significant role in cardiovascular pathophysiology, making difficult to match a particular disease, with a single experimental model. Therefore, no exclusive method perfectly recreates the human complication, and depending on the model, additional considerations of cost, infrastructure, and the requirement for specialized personnel, should also have in mind. Considering all these facts, and depending on the budgets available, models should be selected that best reproduce the disease being investigated. Here we will describe models of atherothrombotic diseases, including expanding and occlusive animal models, as well as models of heart failure. Given the wide range of models available, today it is possible to devise the best strategy, which may help us to find more efficient and reliable solutions against human cardiovascular diseases.

Can airborne ultrasound monitor bubble size in chocolate?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Watson, N; Hazlehurst, T; Povey, M; Vieira, J; Sundara, R; Sandoz, J-P

2014-01-01

Aerated chocolate products consist of solid chocolate with the inclusion of bubbles and are a popular consumer product in many countries. The volume fraction and size distribution of the bubbles has an effect on their sensory properties and manufacturing cost. For these reasons it is important to have an online real time process monitoring system capable of measuring their bubble size distribution. As these products are eaten by consumers it is desirable that the monitoring system is non contact to avoid food contaminations. In this work we assess the feasibility of using an airborne ultrasound system to monitor the bubble size distribution in aerated chocolate bars. The experimental results from the airborne acoustic experiments were compared with theoretical results for known bubble size distributions using COMSOL Multiphysics. This combined experimental and theoretical approach is used to develop a greater understanding of how ultrasound propagates through aerated chocolate and to assess the feasibility of using airborne ultrasound to monitor bubble size distribution in these systems. The results indicated that a smaller bubble size distribution would result in an increase in attenuation through the product

Can airborne ultrasound monitor bubble size in chocolate?

Science.gov (United States)

Watson, N.; Hazlehurst, T.; Povey, M.; Vieira, J.; Sundara, R.; Sandoz, J.-P.

2014-04-01

Aerated chocolate products consist of solid chocolate with the inclusion of bubbles and are a popular consumer product in many countries. The volume fraction and size distribution of the bubbles has an effect on their sensory properties and manufacturing cost. For these reasons it is important to have an online real time process monitoring system capable of measuring their bubble size distribution. As these products are eaten by consumers it is desirable that the monitoring system is non contact to avoid food contaminations. In this work we assess the feasibility of using an airborne ultrasound system to monitor the bubble size distribution in aerated chocolate bars. The experimental results from the airborne acoustic experiments were compared with theoretical results for known bubble size distributions using COMSOL Multiphysics. This combined experimental and theoretical approach is used to develop a greater understanding of how ultrasound propagates through aerated chocolate and to assess the feasibility of using airborne ultrasound to monitor bubble size distribution in these systems. The results indicated that a smaller bubble size distribution would result in an increase in attenuation through the product.

How to learn and to perform endoscopic ultrasound and endobronchial ultrasound for lung cancer staging

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Konge, Lars; Colella, Sara; Vilmann, Peter

2015-01-01

The learning of transesophageal ultrasound guided fine needle aspiration (FNA) (endoscopic ultrasound-FNA), and endobronchial ultrasound guided transbronchial needle aspiration (endosonography) should be based on the following steps: Acquiring theoretical knowledge, training on simulators, and su...

Localization of liver tumors in freehand 3D laparoscopic ultrasound

Science.gov (United States)

Shahin, O.; Martens, V.; Besirevic, A.; Kleemann, M.; Schlaefer, A.

2012-02-01

The aim of minimally invasive laparoscopic liver interventions is to completely resect or ablate tumors while minimizing the trauma caused by the operation. However, restrictions such as limited field of view and reduced depth perception can hinder the surgeon's capabilities to precisely localize the tumor. Typically, preoperative data is acquired to find the tumor(s) and plan the surgery. Nevertheless, determining the precise position of the tumor is required, not only before but also during the operation. The standard use of ultrasound in hepatic surgery is to explore the liver and identify tumors. Meanwhile, the surgeon mentally builds a 3D context to localize tumors. This work aims to upgrade the use of ultrasound in laparoscopic liver surgery. We propose an approach to segment and localize tumors intra-operatively in 3D ultrasound. We reconstruct a 3D laparoscopic ultrasound volume containing a tumor. The 3D image is then preprocessed and semi-automatically segmented using a level set algorithm. During the surgery, for each subsequent reconstructed volume, a fast update of the tumor position is accomplished via registration using the previously segmented and localized tumor as a prior knowledge. The approach was tested on a liver phantom with artificial tumors. The tumors were localized in approximately two seconds with a mean error of less than 0.5 mm. The strengths of this technique are that it can be performed intra-operatively, it helps the surgeon to accurately determine the location, shape and volume of the tumor, and it is repeatable throughout the operation.

Quantitative ultrasound characterization of tumor cell death: ultrasound-stimulated microbubbles for radiation enhancement.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hyunjung Christina Kim

Full Text Available The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of quantitative ultrasound imaging in characterizing cancer cell death caused by enhanced radiation treatments. This investigation focused on developing this ultrasound modality as an imaging-based non-invasive method that can be used to monitor therapeutic ultrasound and radiation effects. High-frequency (25 MHz ultrasound was used to image tumor responses caused by ultrasound-stimulated microbubbles in combination with radiation. Human prostate xenografts grown in severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID mice were treated using 8, 80, or 1000 µL/kg of microbubbles stimulated with ultrasound at 250, 570, or 750 kPa, and exposed to 0, 2, or 8 Gy of radiation. Tumors were imaged prior to treatment and 24 hours after treatment. Spectral analysis of images acquired from treated tumors revealed overall increases in ultrasound backscatter intensity and the spectral intercept parameter. The increase in backscatter intensity compared to the control ranged from 1.9±1.6 dB for the clinical imaging dose of microbubbles (8 µL/kg, 250 kPa, 2 Gy to 7.0±4.1 dB for the most extreme treatment condition (1000 µL/kg, 750 kPa, 8 Gy. In parallel, in situ end-labelling (ISEL staining, ceramide, and cyclophilin A staining demonstrated increases in cell death due to DNA fragmentation, ceramide-mediated apoptosis, and release of cyclophilin A as a result of cell membrane permeabilization, respectively. Quantitative ultrasound results indicated changes that paralleled increases in cell death observed from histology analyses supporting its use for non-invasive monitoring of cancer treatment outcomes.

Comprehensive evaluation of anomalous pulmonary venous connection by electron beam computed tomography as compared with ultrasound

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Shaoxiong; Dai Ruping; Bai Hua; He Sha; Jing Baolian

1999-01-01

Objective: To investigate the clinical value of electron beam computed tomography (EBCT) in diagnosis of anomalous pulmonary venous connection. Methods: Retrospective analysis on 14 cases with anomalous pulmonary venous connection was performed using EBCT volume scan. The slice thickness and scan time were 3 mm and 100 ms respectively. Non-ionic contrast medium was applied. Three dimensional reconstruction of EBCT images were carried out on all cases. Meanwhile, ultrasound echocardiography was performed on all patients. Conventional cardiovascular angiography was performed on 8 patients and 2 cases received operation. Results: Ten patients with total anomalous pulmonary venous connection, including 6 cases of supra-cardiac type and 4 cases of cardiac type, were proved by EBCT examination. Among them, 3 cases of abnormal pulmonary venous drainage were not revealed by conventional cardiovascular angiography. Among four patients with partial pulmonary venous connection, including cardiac type in 2 cases, supra-cardiac type and infra-cardiac type in 1 case respectively, only one of them was demonstrated by echocardiography. Conclusion: EBCT has significant value in diagnosis of anomalous pulmonary venous connection which may not be detectable with echocardiography or even cardiovascular angiography

Medical ultrasound imaging

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Jørgen Arendt

2007-01-01

The paper gives an introduction to current medical ultrasound imaging systems. The basics of anatomic and blood flow imaging are described. The properties of medical ultrasound and its focusing are described, and the various methods for two- and three-dimensional imaging of the human anatomy...

Children's (Pediatric) Abdominal Ultrasound Imaging

Medline Plus

Full Text Available ... is Abdominal Ultrasound Imaging? What are some common uses of the procedure? How should we prepare for an ultrasound exam? What does the ultrasound equipment look like? How does the procedure work? How is the procedure performed? What will my ...

Children's (Pediatric) Abdominal Ultrasound Imaging

Medline Plus

Full Text Available ... waves from passing into your body. The sonographer (ultrasound technologist) or radiologist then places the transducer on the skin in various locations, sweeping over the area of interest or angling the ... ultrasound images are reviewed. An ultrasound examination is usually ...

Developing an emergency ultrasound app

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Foss, Kim Thestrup; Subhi, Yousif; Aagaard, Rasmus

2015-01-01

Focused emergency ultrasound is rapidly evolving as a clinical skill for bedside examination by physicians at all levels of education. Ultrasound is highly operator-dependent and relevant training is essential to ensure appropriate use. When supplementing hands-on focused ultrasound courses, e-le...

MO-AB-210-00: Diagnostic Ultrasound Imaging Quality Control and High Intensity Focused Ultrasound Therapy Hands-On Workshop

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2015-01-01

The goal of this ultrasound hands-on workshop is to demonstrate advancements in high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) and to demonstrate quality control (QC) testing in diagnostic ultrasound. HIFU is a therapeutic modality that uses ultrasound waves as carriers of energy. HIFU is used to focus a beam of ultrasound energy into a small volume at specific target locations within the body. The focused beam causes localized high temperatures and produces a well-defined regions of necrosis. This completely non-invasive technology has great potential for tumor ablation and targeted drug delivery. At the workshop, attendees will see configurations, applications, and hands-on demonstrations with on-site instructors at separate stations. The involvement of medical physicists in diagnostic ultrasound imaging service is increasing due to QC and accreditation requirements. At the workshop, an array of ultrasound testing phantoms and ultrasound scanners will be provided for attendees to learn diagnostic ultrasound QC in a hands-on environment with live demonstrations of the techniques. Target audience: Medical physicists and other medical professionals in diagnostic imaging and radiation oncology with interest in high-intensity focused ultrasound and in diagnostic ultrasound QC. Learning Objectives: Learn ultrasound physics and safety for HIFU applications through live demonstrations Get an overview of the state-of-the art in HIFU technologies and equipment Gain familiarity with common elements of a quality control program for diagnostic ultrasound imaging Identify QC tools available for testing diagnostic ultrasound systems and learn how to use these tools List of supporting vendors for HIFU and diagnostic ultrasound QC hands-on workshop: Philips Healthcare Alpinion Medical Systems Verasonics, Inc Zonare Medical Systems, Inc Computerized Imaging Reference Systems (CIRS), Inc. GAMMEX, Inc., Cablon Medical BV Steffen Sammet: NIH/NCI grant 5R25CA132822, NIH/NINDS grant 5R25NS

MO-AB-210-00: Diagnostic Ultrasound Imaging Quality Control and High Intensity Focused Ultrasound Therapy Hands-On Workshop

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2015-06-15

The goal of this ultrasound hands-on workshop is to demonstrate advancements in high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) and to demonstrate quality control (QC) testing in diagnostic ultrasound. HIFU is a therapeutic modality that uses ultrasound waves as carriers of energy. HIFU is used to focus a beam of ultrasound energy into a small volume at specific target locations within the body. The focused beam causes localized high temperatures and produces a well-defined regions of necrosis. This completely non-invasive technology has great potential for tumor ablation and targeted drug delivery. At the workshop, attendees will see configurations, applications, and hands-on demonstrations with on-site instructors at separate stations. The involvement of medical physicists in diagnostic ultrasound imaging service is increasing due to QC and accreditation requirements. At the workshop, an array of ultrasound testing phantoms and ultrasound scanners will be provided for attendees to learn diagnostic ultrasound QC in a hands-on environment with live demonstrations of the techniques. Target audience: Medical physicists and other medical professionals in diagnostic imaging and radiation oncology with interest in high-intensity focused ultrasound and in diagnostic ultrasound QC. Learning Objectives: Learn ultrasound physics and safety for HIFU applications through live demonstrations Get an overview of the state-of-the art in HIFU technologies and equipment Gain familiarity with common elements of a quality control program for diagnostic ultrasound imaging Identify QC tools available for testing diagnostic ultrasound systems and learn how to use these tools List of supporting vendors for HIFU and diagnostic ultrasound QC hands-on workshop: Philips Healthcare Alpinion Medical Systems Verasonics, Inc Zonare Medical Systems, Inc Computerized Imaging Reference Systems (CIRS), Inc. GAMMEX, Inc., Cablon Medical BV Steffen Sammet: NIH/NCI grant 5R25CA132822, NIH/NINDS grant 5R25NS

Ultrasound-based testing of tendon mechanical properties

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Seynnes, O R; Bojsen-Møller, J.; Albracht, K

2015-01-01

In the past 20 years, the use of ultrasound-based methods has become a standard approach to measure tendon mechanical properties in vivo. Yet the multitude of methodological approaches adopted by various research groups probably contribute to the large variability of reported values. The technique......, or signal synchronization; and 2) in physiological considerations related to the viscoelastic behavior or length measurements of tendons. Hence, the purpose of the present review is to assess and discuss the physiological and technical aspects connected to in vivo testing of tendon mechanical properties...

Ultrasound assisted combustion synthesis of TiC in Al-Ti-C system.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Zhiwei; Rakita, Milan; Xu, Wilson; Wang, Xiaoming; Han, Qingyou

2015-11-01

This research investigated the effects of high-intensity ultrasound on the combustion synthesis of TiC particles in Al-Ti-C system. The process involved that high-intensity ultrasound was applied on the surface of a compacted Al-Ti-C pellet directly through a Nb probe during the thermal explosion reaction. By comparing with the sample without ultrasonic treatment, it was found that the thermal explosion reaction for synthesizing TiC phase could take place thoroughly in the ultrasonically treated sample. During the process of synthesizing TiC phase, the dissolution of solid graphite particles into the Al-Ti melt, as well as the nucleation and growth of TiC particles could be promoted effectively due to the effects of ultrasound, leading to an enhancement of the formation of TiC particles. Ultrasound assisted combustion synthesis as a simple and effective approach was proposed for synthesizing materials in this research. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Endobronchial ultrasound elastography: a new method in endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration.

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, Jun-Hong; Turner, J Francis; Huang, Jian-An

2015-12-01

TBNA through the flexible bronchoscope is a 37-year-old technology that utilizes a TBNA needle to puncture the bronchial wall and obtain specimens of peribronchial and mediastinal lesions through the flexible bronchoscope for the diagnosis of benign and malignant diseases in the mediastinum and lung. Since 2002, the Olympus Company developed the first generation ultrasound equipment for use in the airway, initially utilizing an ultrasound probe introduced through the working channel followed by incoroporation of a fixed linear ultrasound array at the distal tip of the bronchoscope. This new bronchoscope equipped with a convex type ultrasound probe on the tip was subsequently introduced into clinical practice. The convex probe (CP)-EBUS allows real-time endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) of mediastinal and hilar lymph nodes. EBUS-TBNA is a minimally invasive procedure performed under local anesthesia that has been shown to have a high sensitivity and diagnostic yield for lymph node staging of lung cancer. In 10 years of EBUS development, the Olympus Company developed the second generation EBUS bronchoscope (BF-UC260FW) with the ultrasound image processor (EU-M1), and in 2013 introduced a new ultrasound image processor (EU-M2) into clinical practice. FUJI company has also developed a curvilinear array endobronchial ultrasound bronchoscope (EB-530 US) that makes it easier for the operator to master the operation of the ultrasonic bronchoscope. Also, the new thin convex probe endobronchial ultrasound bronchoscope (TCP-EBUS) is able to visualize one to three bifurcations distal to the current CP-EBUS. The emergence of EBUS-TBNA has also been accompanied by innovation in EBUS instruments. EBUS elastography is, then, a new technique for describing the compliance of structures during EBUS, which may be of use in the determination of metastasis to the mediastinal and hilar lymph nodes. This article describes these new EBUS

Physics of Ultrasound. Chapter 12

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lacefield, J. C. [University of Western Ontario, London (Canada)

2014-09-15

Ultrasound is the most commonly used diagnostic imaging modality, accounting for approximately 25% of all imaging examinations performed worldwide at the beginning of the 21st century. The success of ultrasound may be attributed to a number of attractive characteristics, including the relatively low cost and portability of an ultrasound scanner, the non-ionizing nature of ultrasound waves, the ability to produce real time images of blood flow and moving structures such as the beating heart, and the intrinsic contrast among soft tissue structures that is achieved without the need for an injected contrast agent. The latter characteristic enables ultrasound to be used for a wide range of medical applications, which historically have primarily included cardiac and vascular imaging, imaging of the abdominal organs and, most famously, in utero imaging of the developing fetus. Ongoing technological improvements continue to expand the use of ultrasound for many applications, including cancer imaging, musculoskeletal imaging, ophthalmology and others. The term ultrasound refers specifically to acoustic waves at frequencies greater than the maximum frequency audible to humans, which is nominally 20 kHz. Diagnostic imaging is generally performed using ultrasound in the frequency range of 2–15 MHz. The choice of frequency is dictated by a trade off between spatial resolution and penetration depth, since higher frequency waves can be focused more tightly but are attenuated more rapidly by tissue. The information contained in an ultrasonic image is influenced by the physical processes underlying propagation, reflection and attenuation of ultrasound waves in tissue.

Ultrasound-guided intraarticular injection for MR arthrography of the shoulder

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schaeffeler, Christoph; Bruegel, M.; Waldt, S.; Rummeny, E.J.; Woertler, K.

2010-01-01

Purpose: To evaluate ultrasound guidance for intraarticular contrast injection via an anterolateral approach in comparison with fluoroscopic guidance. Materials and Methods: Contrast agent injection was performed in 40 consecutive patients, 20 under sonographic guidance and 20 under fluoroscopic guidance. None of the patients had previous shoulder surgery. The procedure time was measured and the efficiency of joint distension, incidence of extravasation and intraarticular air on the consecutive MR arthrograms were assessed by three blinded radiologists with musculoskeletal radiology experience. Statistical analysis was performed using the Kruskal-Wallis test. Results: Intraarticular contrast injection was successfully accomplished in all 40 patients. Subsequent MR arthrograms did not show any significant difference between sonographic and fluoroscopic guidance with respect to diagnostic quality, joint distension (p = 0.6665), intraarticular air bubbles (p = 0.1567) and occurrence of contrast extravasation (p = 0.8565). The mean duration of ultrasound-guided injection was 7:30 min compared to a shorter procedure time of 4:15 min for fluoroscopic guidance. In both groups, no procedural complications were observed. Conclusion: Ultrasound-guided injection for MR arthrography of the shoulder via an anterolateral approach represents a simple, safe, and effective technique which yields comparable results to those of injection under fluoroscopic guidance, but is slightly more time-consuming. (orig.)

Towards personalized treatment in cardiovascular disease : a molecular epidemiological approach

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Regieli, J.J.

2009-01-01

Patients who have experienced cardiovascular disease each differ in terms of their future risk, yet currently we have no ways to predict individual prognosis. Mass preventive treatment is therefore currently recommended for the group as a whole whereas in fact this group is highly heterogeneous and

General Ultrasound Imaging

Medline Plus

Full Text Available ... to image by ultrasound because greater amounts of tissue attenuate (weaken) the sound waves as they pass deeper into the body and need to be returned to the transducer for analysis. Ultrasound has difficulty penetrating bone and, therefore, can only see the outer surface ...

[Basics of emergency ultrasound].

Science.gov (United States)

Schellhaas, S; Breitkreutz, R

2012-09-05

Focused ultrasound is a key methodology of critical care medicine. By referencing few ultrasound differential diagnosis, it is possible to identifying in real-time the reason of the critical state of a patient. Therefore typical focused ultrasound protocols were developed. The well known Focused Assessment with Sonography for trauma (FAST) was incorporated into the Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) for shock room. Focused echocardiographic evaluation in life support (FEEL) has been designed to be conformed with the universal Advanced Life Support (ALS) algorithm and to identify treatable conditions such as acute right ventricular pressure overload in pulmonary embolism, hypovolemia, or pericardial effusion/tamponade. Using lung ultrasound one can differentiate pulmonary edema, pleural effusion or pneumothorax.

Lipoprotein (a) as a cause of cardiovascular disease

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nordestgaard, Børge G; Langsted, Anne

2016-01-01

Human epidemiologic and genetic evidence using the Mendelian randomization approach in large-scale studies now strongly supports that elevated lipoprotein (a) [Lp(a)] is a causal risk factor for cardiovascular disease, that is, for myocardial infarction, atherosclerotic stenosis, and aortic valve...... with very high concentrations to reduce cardiovascular disease are awaited. Recent genetic evidence documents elevated Lp(a) as a cause of myocardial infarction, atherosclerotic stenosis, and aortic valve stenosis....

Ultrasound call detection in capybara

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Selene S.C. Nogueira

2012-07-01

Full Text Available The vocal repertoire of some animal species has been considered a non-invasive tool to predict distress reactivity. In rats ultrasound emissions were reported as distress indicator. Capybaras[ vocal repertoire was reported recently and seems to have ultrasound calls, but this has not yet been confirmed. Thus, in order to check if a poor state of welfare was linked to ultrasound calls in the capybara vocal repertoire, the aim of this study was to track the presence of ultrasound emissions in 11 animals under three conditions: 1 unrestrained; 2 intermediately restrained, and 3 highly restrained. The ultrasound track identified frequencies in the range of 31.8±3.5 kHz in adults and 33.2±8.5 kHz in juveniles. These ultrasound frequencies occurred only when animals were highly restrained, physically restrained or injured during handling. We concluded that these calls with ultrasound components are related to pain and restraint because they did not occur when animals were free of restraint. Thus we suggest that this vocalization may be used as an additional tool to assess capybaras[ welfare.

Role of Garlic Usage in Cardiovascular Disease Prevention: An Evidence-Based Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Ashfaq, Tabinda

2013-01-01

Introduction. Rapidly growing prevalence of cardiovascular disease is a major threat for the developed as well as developing world warranting urgent need of intervention. Complementary and alternative medicines are gaining popularity among general population because of their safety profile and easy administration. Garlic, in particular, is considered to be one of the best disease-preventive foods because of its potent and widespread effects. This study was done to find out the role of garlic usage in cardiovascular disease prevention. Methodology. Major databases including Google, PubMed, MEDLINE, and Cochrane library view were used for the literature search. Clinical trials conducted on humans assessing role of garlic usage in cardiovascular disease prevention and the possible mechanisms responsible for such therapeutic actions were assessed. Results. Various clinical trials and meta-analyses conducted have shown positive impact of garlic in cardiovascular-disease prevention especially its effects on lipid levels; however, some contradictory results are also reported. Similarly, its effects on hypertension control, and platelet are also mild with limited data availability. The possible reason for these inconsistent results is the difference in preparations with diverse composition, variations in sulphur content present in different garlic preparations used, and methodological variations in subject recruitment, duration of study, dietary control and so forth. Conclusion. Garlic can be used as an adjuvant with lipid-lowering drugs for control of lipids, however, its role as a main therapeutic agent cannot be recommended and it is suggested that more meta-analyses using standardized preparations with a close watch on methodological shortfalls should be conducted to prove its role. PMID:23690831

Obstetrical ultrasound

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bundy, A.L.

1988-01-01

The use of diagnostic ultrasound in obstetrics may provide fuel for legal action. While most legal implications of this relatively new imaging modality are purely speculative, some have already given rise to legal action. Several situations will likely provide a basis for the courts to find against the physician. The failure to perform a sonogram when clinically indicated will most likely be the strongest plaintiff argument. Other major concerns include the use and availability of state-of-the-art equipment, as well as interpretation of the scans by a trained physician. Obstetrical ultrasound is usually performed by a radiologist or obstetrician. However, many physicians performing these examinations have had little or no formal training in the field. While this is now being remedied by the respective board examines who require a certain amount of training, it may not be enough. When ultrasound-related cases reach the courts, the involved physicians will most likely be regarded as experts in the field and, therefore, will be held to a very high standard of care. This would be difficult to achieve without formal training. At the present time, the American Board of Radiology requires more training time in ultrasound than the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology

Improved heating efficiency with High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound using a new ultrasound source excitation.

Science.gov (United States)

Bigelow, Timothy A

2009-01-01

High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) is quickly becoming one of the best methods to thermally ablate tissue noninvasively. Unlike RF or Laser ablation, the tissue can be destroyed without inserting any probes into the body minimizing the risk of secondary complications such as infections. In this study, the heating efficiency of HIFU sources is improved by altering the excitation of the ultrasound source to take advantage of nonlinear propagation. For ultrasound, the phase velocity of the ultrasound wave depends on the amplitude of the wave resulting in the generation of higher harmonics. These higher harmonics are more efficiently converted into heat in the body due to the frequency dependence of the ultrasound absorption in tissue. In our study, the generation of the higher harmonics by nonlinear propagation is enhanced by transmitting an ultrasound wave with both the fundamental and a higher harmonic component included. Computer simulations demonstrated up to a 300% increase in temperature increase compared to transmitting at only the fundamental for the same acoustic power transmitted by the source.

Ultrasound in environmental engineering. Papers

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tiehm, A; Neis, U [eds.

1999-07-01

This book presents recent research and state-of-the-art information on the scientific basis, modes of use, and engineering developments of ultrasound application in the field of environmental protection. The information is loosely grouped into the following themes: ultrasound and sonochemistry, design of sonoreactors, applications in water, waste water and sludge treatment: aggregation of suspended particles, degradation of hazardous pollutants, disinfection, disintegration of biosolids. Ultrasound is generated and applied at frequencies from 20 kHz to several MHz. Reactor design, applied intensity, duration of sonication, and physico-chemical parameters of the sonicated media influence ultrasound effects. Thus, ultrasound, at a first glance, is a complex and probably confusing matter. This book has been compiled from presentations held at the first workshop 'Ultrasound in Environmental Engineering' on March 22nd and 23rd, 1999, at the Technical University of Hamburg-Harburg in cooperation with the German Association for the Water Environment (ATV) and the DECHEMA e.V. (orig.)

Ultrasound in environmental engineering. Papers

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tiehm, A.; Neis, U. [eds.

1999-07-01

This book presents recent research and state-of-the-art information on the scientific basis, modes of use, and engineering developments of ultrasound application in the field of environmental protection. The information is loosely grouped into the following themes: ultrasound and sonochemistry, design of sonoreactors, applications in water, waste water and sludge treatment: aggregation of suspended particles, degradation of hazardous pollutants, disinfection, disintegration of biosolids. Ultrasound is generated and applied at frequencies from 20 kHz to several MHz. Reactor design, applied intensity, duration of sonication, and physico-chemical parameters of the sonicated media influence ultrasound effects. Thus, ultrasound, at a first glance, is a complex and probably confusing matter. This book has been compiled from presentations held at the first workshop 'Ultrasound in Environmental Engineering' on March 22nd and 23rd, 1999, at the Technical University of Hamburg-Harburg in cooperation with the German Association for the Water Environment (ATV) and the DECHEMA e.V. (orig.)

General Ultrasound Imaging

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Full Text Available ... women and their unborn babies. Ultrasound provides real-time imaging, making it a good tool for guiding minimally invasive procedures such as needle biopsies and fluid aspiration. Risks For standard diagnostic ultrasound , there are no known harmful effects on humans. top of page What are the ...

Cardiovascular safety of biologic therapies for the treatment of RA.

Science.gov (United States)

Greenberg, Jeffrey D; Furer, Victoria; Farkouh, Michael E

2011-11-15

Cardiovascular disease represents a major source of extra-articular comorbidity in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). A combination of traditional cardiovascular risk factors and RA-related factors accounts for the excess risk in RA. Among RA-related factors, chronic systemic inflammation has been implicated in the pathogenesis and progression of atherosclerosis. A growing body of evidence--mainly derived from observational databases and registries--suggests that specific RA therapies, including methotrexate and anti-TNF biologic agents, can reduce the risk of future cardiovascular events in patients with RA. The cardiovascular profile of other biologic therapies for the treatment of RA has not been adequately studied, including of investigational drugs that improve systemic inflammation but alter traditional cardiovascular risk factors. In the absence of large clinical trials adequately powered to detect differences in cardiovascular events between biologic drugs in RA, deriving firm conclusions on cardiovascular safety is challenging. Nevertheless, observational research using large registries has emerged as a promising approach to study the cardiovascular risk of emerging RA biologic therapies.

Molecular ultrasound imaging: current status and future directions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Deshpande, N.; Needles, A.; Willmann, J.K.

2010-01-01

Targeted contrast-enhanced ultrasound (molecular ultrasound) is an emerging imaging strategy that combines ultrasound technology with novel molecularly-targeted ultrasound contrast agents for assessing biological processes at the molecular level. Molecular ultrasound contrast agents are nano- or micro-sized particles that are targeted to specific molecular markers by adding high-affinity binding ligands onto the surface of the particles. Following intravenous administration, these targeted ultrasound contrast agents accumulate at tissue sites overexpressing specific molecular markers, thereby enhancing the ultrasound imaging signal. High spatial and temporal resolution, real-time imaging, non-invasiveness, relatively low costs, lack of ionising irradiation and wide availability of ultrasound systems are advantages compared to other molecular imaging modalities. In this article we review current concepts and future directions of molecular ultrasound imaging, including different classes of molecular ultrasound contrast agents, ongoing technical developments of pre-clinical and clinical ultrasound systems, the potential of molecular ultrasound for imaging different diseases at the molecular level, and the translation of molecular ultrasound into the clinic.

Consistent reconstruction of 4D fetal heart ultrasound images to cope with fetal motion.

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Tanner, Christine; Flach, Barbara; Eggenberger, Céline; Mattausch, Oliver; Bajka, Michael; Goksel, Orcun

2017-08-01

4D ultrasound imaging of the fetal heart relies on reconstructions from B-mode images. In the presence of fetal motion, current approaches suffer from artifacts, which are unrecoverable for single sweeps. We propose to use many sweeps and exploit the resulting redundancy to automatically recover from motion by reconstructing a 4D image which is consistent in phase, space, and time. An interactive visualization framework to view animated ultrasound slices from 4D reconstructions on arbitrary planes was developed using a magnetically tracked mock probe. We first quantified the performance of 10 4D reconstruction formulations on simulated data. Reconstructions of 14 in vivo sequences by a baseline, the current state-of-the-art, and the proposed approach were then visually ranked with respect to temporal quality on orthogonal views. Rankings from 5 observers showed that the proposed 4D reconstruction approach significantly improves temporal image quality in comparison with the baseline. The 4D reconstructions of the baseline and the proposed methods were then inspected interactively for accessibility to clinically important views and rated for their clinical usefulness by an ultrasound specialist in obstetrics and gynecology. The reconstructions by the proposed method were rated as 'very useful' in 71% and were statistically significantly more useful than the baseline reconstructions. Multi-sweep fetal heart ultrasound acquisitions in combination with consistent 4D image reconstruction improves quality as well as clinical usefulness of the resulting 4D images in the presence of fetal motion.

Characterization of the Lung Parenchyma Using Ultrasound Multiple Scattering.

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Mohanty, Kaustav; Blackwell, John; Egan, Thomas; Muller, Marie

2017-05-01

The purpose of the study described here was to showcase the application of ultrasound to quantitative characterization of the micro-architecture of the lung parenchyma to predict the extent of pulmonary edema. The lung parenchyma is a highly complex and diffusive medium for which ultrasound techniques have remained qualitative. The approach presented here is based on ultrasound multiple scattering and exploits the complexity of ultrasound propagation in the lung structure. The experimental setup consisted of a linear transducer array with an 8-MHz central frequency placed in contact with the lung surface. The diffusion constant D and transport mean free path L* of the lung parenchyma were estimated by separating the incoherent and coherent intensities in the near field and measuring the growth of the incoherent diffusive halo over time. Significant differences were observed between the L* values obtained in healthy and edematous rat lungs in vivo. In the control rat lung, L* was found to be 332 μm (±48.8 μm), whereas in the edematous lung, it was 1040 μm (±90 μm). The reproducibility of the measurements of L* and D was tested in vivo and in phantoms made of melamine sponge with varying air volume fractions. Two-dimensional finite difference time domain numerical simulations were carried out on rabbit lung histology images with varying degrees of lung collapse. Significant correlations were observed between air volume fraction and L* in simulation (r = -0.9542, p lung in which edema was simulated by adding phosphate-buffered saline revealed a linear relationship between the fluid volume fraction and L*. These results illustrate the potential of methods based on ultrasound multiple scattering for the quantitative characterization of the lung parenchyma. Copyright © 2017 World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Ultrasound-guided brachial plexus block: a study on 30 patients

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Amiri HR

2009-05-01

Full Text Available "n Normal 0 false false false EN-GB X-NONE AR-SA MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:Arial; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} Background: Successful brachial plexus blocks rely on proper techniques of nerve localization, needle placement, and local anesthetic injection. Standard approaches used today (elicitation of paresthesia or nerve-stimulated muscle contraction, unfortunately, are all "blind" techniques resulting in procedure-related pain and complications. Ultrasound guidance for brachial plexus blocks can potentially improve success and complication rates. This study presents the ultrasound-guided brachial plexus blocks for the first time in Iran in adults and pediatrics. "n"n Methods: In this study ultrasound-guided brachial plexus blocks in 30 patients (25 adults & 5 pediatrics scheduled for an elective upper extremity surgery, are introduced. Ultrasound imaging was used to identify the brachial plexus before the block, guide the block needle to reach target nerves, and visualize the pattern of local anesthetic spread. Needle position was further confirmed by nerve stimulation before injection. Besides basic variables, block approach, block time, postoperative analgesia duration (VAS<3 was considered as target pain control opioid consumption during surgery, patient satisfaction and block related complications were reported

Prostate ultrasound: back in business!

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Crisan, Nicolae; Andras, Iulia; Radu, Corina; Andras, David; Coman, Radu-Tudor; Tucan, Paul; Pisla, Doina; Crisan, Dana; Coman, Ioan

2017-11-29

The use of grey scale prostate ultrasound decreased after the implementation of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for the diagnosis and evaluation of prostate cancer. The new developments, such as multiparametric ultrasound and MRI-ultrasound fusion technology, renewed the interest for this imaging method in the assessment of prostate cancer. The purpose of this paper was to review the current role of prostate ultrasound in the setting of these new applications. A thorough reevaluation of the selection criteria of the patients is required to assess which patients would benefit from multiparametric ultrasound, who wouldbenefit from multiparametric MRI or the combination of both to assist prostate biopsy in order to ensure the balance between overdiagnosis and underdiagnosis of prostate cancer.

Angular Spectrum Simulation of Pulsed Ultrasound Fields

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Du, Yigang; Jensen, Henrik; Jensen, Jørgen Arendt

2009-01-01

frequencies must be performed. Combining it with Field II, the generation of non-linear simulation for any geometry with any excitation array transducer becomes feasible. The purpose of this paper is to make a general pulsed simulation software using the modified ASA. Linear and phased array transducers......The optimization of non-linear ultrasound imaging should in a first step be based on simulation, as this makes parameter studies considerably easier than making transducer prototypes. Such a simulation program should be capable of simulating non-linear pulsed fields for arbitrary transducer...... geometries for any kind of focusing and apodization. The Angular Spectrum Approach (ASA) is capable of simulating monochromatic non-linear acoustic wave propagation. However, for ultrasound imaging the time response of each specific point in space is required, and a pulsed ASA simulation with multi temporal...

High resolution three-dimensional robotic synthetic tracked aperture ultrasound imaging: feasibility study

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Zhang, Haichong K.; Fang, Ting Yun; Finocchi, Rodolfo; Boctor, Emad M.

2017-03-01

Three dimensional (3D) ultrasound imaging is becoming a standard mode for medical ultrasound diagnoses. Conventional 3D ultrasound imaging is mostly scanned either by using a two dimensional matrix array or by motorizing a one dimensional array in the elevation direction. However, the former system is not widely assessable due to its cost, and the latter one has limited resolution and field-of-view in the elevation axis. Here, we propose a 3D ultrasound imaging system based on the synthetic tracked aperture approach, in which a robotic arm is used to provide accurate tracking and motion. While the ultrasound probe is moved by a robotic arm, each probe position is tracked and can be used to reconstruct a wider field-of-view as there are no physical barriers that restrict the elevational scanning. At the same time, synthetic aperture beamforming provides a better resolution in the elevation axis. To synthesize the elevational information, the single focal point is regarded as the virtual element, and forward and backward delay-andsum are applied to the radio-frequency (RF) data collected through the volume. The concept is experimentally validated using a general ultrasound phantom, and the elevational resolution improvement of 2.54 and 2.13 times was measured at the target depths of 20 mm and 110 mm, respectively.

Contrast ultrasound targeted treatment of gliomas in mice via drug-bearing nanoparticle delivery and microvascular ablation.

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Burke, Caitlin W; Price, Richard J

2010-12-15

We are developing minimally-invasive contrast agent microbubble based therapeutic approaches in which the permeabilization and/or ablation of the microvasculature are controlled by varying ultrasound pulsing parameters. Specifically, we are testing whether such approaches may be used to treat malignant brain tumors through drug delivery and microvascular ablation. Preliminary studies have been performed to determine whether targeted drug-bearing nanoparticle delivery can be facilitated by the ultrasound mediated destruction of "composite" delivery agents comprised of 100nm poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (PLAGA) nanoparticles that are adhered to albumin shelled microbubbles. We denote these agents as microbubble-nanoparticle composite agents (MNCAs). When targeted to subcutaneous C6 gliomas with ultrasound, we observed an immediate 4.6-fold increase in nanoparticle delivery in MNCA treated tumors over tumors treated with microbubbles co-administered with nanoparticles and a 8.5 fold increase over non-treated tumors. Furthermore, in many cancer applications, we believe it may be desirable to perform targeted drug delivery in conjunction with ablation of the tumor microcirculation, which will lead to tumor hypoxia and apoptosis. To this end, we have tested the efficacy of non-theramal cavitation-induced microvascular ablation, showing that this approach elicits tumor perfusion reduction, apoptosis, significant growth inhibition, and necrosis. Taken together, these results indicate that our ultrasound-targeted approach has the potential to increase therapeutic efficiency by creating tumor necrosis through microvascular ablation and/or simultaneously enhancing the drug payload in gliomas.

Registration of human skull computed tomography data to an ultrasound treatment space using a sparse high frequency ultrasound hemispherical array

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O’Reilly, Meaghan A., E-mail: moreilly@sri.utoronto.ca; Jones, Ryan M. [Physical Sciences Platform, Sunnybrook Research Institute, Toronto, Ontario M4N 3M5 (Canada); Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5G 1L7 (Canada); Birman, Gabriel [Physical Sciences Platform, Sunnybrook Research Institute, Toronto, Ontario M4N 3M5 (Canada); Hynynen, Kullervo [Physical Sciences Platform, Sunnybrook Research Institute, Toronto, Ontario M4N 3M5 (Canada); Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5G 1L7 (Canada); Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3G9 (Canada)

2016-09-15

Purpose: Transcranial focused ultrasound (FUS) shows great promise for a range of therapeutic applications in the brain. Current clinical investigations rely on the use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to monitor treatments and for the registration of preoperative computed tomography (CT)-data to the MR images at the time of treatment to correct the sound aberrations caused by the skull. For some applications, MRI is not an appropriate choice for therapy monitoring and its cost may limit the accessibility of these treatments. An alternative approach, using high frequency ultrasound measurements to localize the skull surface and register CT data to the ultrasound treatment space, for the purposes of skull-related phase aberration correction and treatment targeting, has been developed. Methods: A prototype high frequency, hemispherical sparse array was fabricated. Pulse-echo measurements of the surface of five ex vivo human skulls were made, and the CT datasets of each skull were obtained. The acoustic data were used to rigidly register the CT-derived skull surface to the treatment space. The ultrasound-based registrations of the CT datasets were compared to the gold-standard landmark-based registrations. Results: The results show on an average sub-millimeter (0.9 ± 0.2 mm) displacement and subdegree (0.8° ± 0.4°) rotation registration errors. Numerical simulations predict that registration errors on this scale will result in a mean targeting error of 1.0 ± 0.2 mm and reduction in focal pressure of 1.0% ± 0.6% when targeting a midbrain structure (e.g., hippocampus) using a commercially available low-frequency brain prototype device (InSightec, 230 kHz brain system). Conclusions: If combined with ultrasound-based treatment monitoring techniques, this registration method could allow for the development of a low-cost transcranial FUS treatment platform to make this technology more widely available.

Registration of human skull computed tomography data to an ultrasound treatment space using a sparse high frequency ultrasound hemispherical array.

Science.gov (United States)

O'Reilly, Meaghan A; Jones, Ryan M; Birman, Gabriel; Hynynen, Kullervo

2016-09-01

Transcranial focused ultrasound (FUS) shows great promise for a range of therapeutic applications in the brain. Current clinical investigations rely on the use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to monitor treatments and for the registration of preoperative computed tomography (CT)-data to the MR images at the time of treatment to correct the sound aberrations caused by the skull. For some applications, MRI is not an appropriate choice for therapy monitoring and its cost may limit the accessibility of these treatments. An alternative approach, using high frequency ultrasound measurements to localize the skull surface and register CT data to the ultrasound treatment space, for the purposes of skull-related phase aberration correction and treatment targeting, has been developed. A prototype high frequency, hemispherical sparse array was fabricated. Pulse-echo measurements of the surface of five ex vivo human skulls were made, and the CT datasets of each skull were obtained. The acoustic data were used to rigidly register the CT-derived skull surface to the treatment space. The ultrasound-based registrations of the CT datasets were compared to the gold-standard landmark-based registrations. The results show on an average sub-millimeter (0.9 ± 0.2 mm) displacement and subdegree (0.8° ± 0.4°) rotation registration errors. Numerical simulations predict that registration errors on this scale will result in a mean targeting error of 1.0 ± 0.2 mm and reduction in focal pressure of 1.0% ± 0.6% when targeting a midbrain structure (e.g., hippocampus) using a commercially available low-frequency brain prototype device (InSightec, 230 kHz brain system). If combined with ultrasound-based treatment monitoring techniques, this registration method could allow for the development of a low-cost transcranial FUS treatment platform to make this technology more widely available.

Riesgo cardiovascular, una herramienta útil para la prevención de las enfermedades cardiovasculares Cardiovascular risk, a useful tool for prevention of cardiovascular diseases

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Jorge Vega Abascal

2011-03-01

Full Text Available El riesgo cardiovascular se define como la probabilidad de padecer un evento cardiovascular en un determinado período. Mejorar la exactitud en la predicción del riesgo requiere la evaluación y el tratamiento de múltiples factores de riesgo cardiovascular, los que tienen un efecto sinérgico, más que aditivo, sobre el riesgo cardiovascular total. El cálculo utilizando métodos cuantitativos es más preciso que el obtenido con métodos cualitativos. La predicción del riesgo cardiovascular ha constituido, en los últimos años, la piedra angular en las guías clínicas de prevención cardiovascular, y deviene una herramienta útil del Médico de Familia para establecer prioridades en la atención primaria, mejorando la atención a los pacientes y eligiendo más eficazmente la terapéutica a seguir, con el objetivo de acercarnos más a la realidad multifactorial de las enfermedades cardiovasculares y a su prevención.The cardiovascular risk is defined like a probability of suffering a cardiovascular event in a determined period. To improve the accuracy in risk prediction requires the assessment and treatment of different cardiovascular risk factors, which have a synergistic effect more than additive on the total cardiovascular risk. The calculus using quantitative methods is more accurate than that obtained with qualitative methods. The prediction of cardiovascular risk has been in past years the cornerstone in clinical guidances of cardiovascular prevention and becomes an useful tool for Family Physician to establish priorities in the primary care, improving the patients care and selecting in a more effective way the therapy to be followed to bring closer more to multifactor reality of cardiovascular diseases and its prevention.

Bridging the gap between measurements and modelling: a cardiovascular functional avatar.

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Casas, Belén; Lantz, Jonas; Viola, Federica; Cedersund, Gunnar; Bolger, Ann F; Carlhäll, Carl-Johan; Karlsson, Matts; Ebbers, Tino

2017-07-24

Lumped parameter models of the cardiovascular system have the potential to assist researchers and clinicians to better understand cardiovascular function. The value of such models increases when they are subject specific. However, most approaches to personalize lumped parameter models have thus far required invasive measurements or fall short of being subject specific due to a lack of the necessary clinical data. Here, we propose an approach to personalize parameters in a model of the heart and the systemic circulation using exclusively non-invasive measurements. The personalized model is created using flow data from four-dimensional magnetic resonance imaging and cuff pressure measurements in the brachial artery. We term this personalized model the cardiovascular avatar. In our proof-of-concept study, we evaluated the capability of the avatar to reproduce pressures and flows in a group of eight healthy subjects. Both quantitatively and qualitatively, the model-based results agreed well with the pressure and flow measurements obtained in vivo for each subject. This non-invasive and personalized approach can synthesize medical data into clinically relevant indicators of cardiovascular function, and estimate hemodynamic variables that cannot be assessed directly from clinical measurements.

Fluid and solid mechanics in a poroelastic network induced by ultrasound.

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Wang, Peng; Olbricht, William L

2011-01-04

We made a theoretical analysis on the fluid and solid mechanics in a poroelastic medium induced by low-power ultrasound. Using a perturbative approach, we were able to linearize the governing equations and obtain analytical solutions. We found that ultrasound could propagate in the medium as a mechanical wave, but would dissipate due to frictional forces between the fluid and the solid phase. The amplitude of the wave depends on the ultrasonic power input. We applied this model to the problem of drug delivery to soft biological tissues by low-power ultrasound and proposed a mechanism for enhanced drug penetration. We have also found the coexistence of two acoustic waves under certain circumstances and pointed out the importance of very accurate experimental determination of the high-frequency properties of brain tissue. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Study and optimization of the ultrasound-enhanced cleaning of an ultrafiltration ceramic membrane through a combined experimental-statistical approach.

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Alventosa-deLara, E; Barredo-Damas, S; Alcaina-Miranda, M I; Iborra-Clar, M I

2014-05-01

Membrane fouling is one of the main drawbacks of ultrafiltration technology during the treatment of dye-containing effluents. Therefore, the optimization of the membrane cleaning procedure is essential to improve the overall efficiency. In this work, a study of the factors affecting the ultrasound-assisted cleaning of an ultrafiltration ceramic membrane fouled by dye particles was carried out. The effect of transmembrane pressure (0.5, 1.5, 2.5 bar), cross-flow velocity (1, 2, 3 ms(-1)), ultrasound power level (40%, 70%, 100%) and ultrasound frequency mode (37, 80 kHz and mixed wave) on the cleaning efficiency was evaluated. The lowest frequency showed better results, although the best cleaning performance was obtained using the mixed wave mode. A Box-Behnken Design was used to find the optimal conditions for the cleaning procedure through a response surface study. The optimal operating conditions leading to the maximum cleaning efficiency predicted (32.19%) were found to be 1.1 bar, 3 ms(-1) and 100% of power level. Finally, the optimized response was compared to the efficiency of a chemical cleaning with NaOH solution, with and without the use of ultrasound. By using NaOH, cleaning efficiency nearly triples, and it improves up to 25% by adding ultrasound. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Medical imaging technology reviews and computational applications

CERN Document Server

Dewi, Dyah

2015-01-01

This book presents the latest research findings and reviews in the field of medical imaging technology, covering ultrasound diagnostics approaches for detecting osteoarthritis, breast carcinoma and cardiovascular conditions, image guided biopsy and segmentation techniques for detecting lung cancer, image fusion, and simulating fluid flows for cardiovascular applications. It offers a useful guide for students, lecturers and professional researchers in the fields of biomedical engineering and image processing.

Animal Models of Cardiovascular Diseases

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carlos Zaragoza

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Cardiovascular diseases are the first leading cause of death and morbidity in developed countries. The use of animal models have contributed to increase our knowledge, providing new approaches focused to improve the diagnostic and the treatment of these pathologies. Several models have been developed to address cardiovascular complications, including atherothrombotic and cardiac diseases, and the same pathology have been successfully recreated in different species, including small and big animal models of disease. However, genetic and environmental factors play a significant role in cardiovascular pathophysiology, making difficult to match a particular disease, with a single experimental model. Therefore, no exclusive method perfectly recreates the human complication, and depending on the model, additional considerations of cost, infrastructure, and the requirement for specialized personnel, should also have in mind. Considering all these facts, and depending on the budgets available, models should be selected that best reproduce the disease being investigated. Here we will describe models of atherothrombotic diseases, including expanding and occlusive animal models, as well as models of heart failure. Given the wide range of models available, today it is possible to devise the best strategy, which may help us to find more efficient and reliable solutions against human cardiovascular diseases.

Multi-scale AM-FM motion analysis of ultrasound videos of carotid artery plaques

Science.gov (United States)

Murillo, Sergio; Murray, Victor; Loizou, C. P.; Pattichis, C. S.; Pattichis, Marios; Barriga, E. Simon

2012-03-01

An estimated 82 million American adults have one or more type of cardiovascular diseases (CVD). CVD is the leading cause of death (1 of every 3 deaths) in the United States. When considered separately from other CVDs, stroke ranks third among all causes of death behind diseases of the heart and cancer. Stroke accounts for 1 out of every 18 deaths and is the leading cause of serious long-term disability in the United States. Motion estimation of ultrasound videos (US) of carotid artery (CA) plaques provides important information regarding plaque deformation that should be considered for distinguishing between symptomatic and asymptomatic plaques. In this paper, we present the development of verifiable methods for the estimation of plaque motion. Our methodology is tested on a set of 34 (5 symptomatic and 29 asymptomatic) ultrasound videos of carotid artery plaques. Plaque and wall motion analysis provides information about plaque instability and is used in an attempt to differentiate between symptomatic and asymptomatic cases. The final goal for motion estimation and analysis is to identify pathological conditions that can be detected from motion changes due to changes in tissue stiffness.

Riding the Plane Wave: Considerations for In Vivo Study Designs Employing High Frame Rate Ultrasound

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Jason S. Au

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Advancements in diagnostic ultrasound have allowed for a rapid expansion of the quantity and quality of non-invasive information that clinical researchers can acquire from cardiovascular physiology. The recent emergence of high frame rate ultrasound (HiFRUS is the next step in the quantification of complex blood flow behavior, offering angle-independent, high temporal resolution data in normal physiology and clinical cases. While there are various HiFRUS methods that have been tested and validated in simulations and in complex flow phantoms, there is a need to expand the field into more rigorous in vivo testing for clinical relevance. In this tutorial, we briefly outline the major advances in HiFRUS, and discuss practical considerations of participant preparation, experimental design, and human measurement, while also providing an example of how these frameworks can be immediately applied to in vivo research questions. The considerations put forward in this paper aim to set a realistic framework for research labs which use HiFRUS to commence the collection of human data for basic science, as well as for preliminary clinical research questions.

Electromagnetic-Tracked Biopsy under Ultrasound Guidance: Preliminary Results

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hakime, Antoine; Deschamps, Frederic; Marques De Carvalho, Enio Garcia; Barah, Ali; Auperin, Anne; Baere, Thierry De

2012-01-01

Purpose: This study was designed to evaluate the accuracy and safety of electromagnetic needle tracking for sonographically guided percutaneous liver biopsies. Methods: We performed 23 consecutive ultrasound-guided liver biopsies for liver nodules with an electromagnetic tracking of the needle. A sensor placed at the tip of a sterile stylet (18G) inserted in a coaxial guiding trocar (16G) used for biopsy was localized in real time relative to the ultrasound imaging plane, thanks to an electromagnetic transmitter and two sensors on the ultrasound probe. This allows for electronic display of the needle tip location and the future needle path overlaid on the real-time ultrasound image. Distance between needle tip position and its electronic display, number of needle punctures, number of needle pull backs for redirection, technical success (needle positioned in the target), diagnostic success (correct histopathology result), procedure time, and complication were evaluated according to lesion sizes, depth and location, operator experience, and “in-plane” or “out-of-plane” needle approach. Results: Electronic display was always within 2 mm from the real position of the needle tip. The technical success rate was 100%. A single needle puncture without repuncture was used in all patients. Pull backs were necessary in six patients (26%) to obtain correct needle placement. The overall diagnostic success rate was 91%. The overall true-positive, true-negative, false-negative, and failure rates of the biopsy were 100% (19/19) 100% (2/2), 0% (0/23), and 9% (2/23). The median total procedure time from the skin puncture to the needle in the target was 30 sec (from 5–60 s). Lesion depth and localizations, operator experience, in-plane or out-of-plane approach did not affect significantly the technical, diagnostic success, or procedure time. Even when the tumor size decreased, the procedure time did not increase. Conclusions: Electromagnetic-tracked biopsy is accurate to

Cardiovascular oscillations: in search of a nonlinear parametric model

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Bandrivskyy, Andriy; Luchinsky, Dmitry; McClintock, Peter V.; Smelyanskiy, Vadim; Stefanovska, Aneta; Timucin, Dogan

2003-05-01

We suggest a fresh approach to the modeling of the human cardiovascular system. Taking advantage of a new Bayesian inference technique, able to deal with stochastic nonlinear systems, we show that one can estimate parameters for models of the cardiovascular system directly from measured time series. We present preliminary results of inference of parameters of a model of coupled oscillators from measured cardiovascular data addressing cardiorespiratory interaction. We argue that the inference technique offers a very promising tool for the modeling, able to contribute significantly towards the solution of a long standing challenge -- development of new diagnostic techniques based on noninvasive measurements.

Doppler ultrasound for diagnosis of soft tissue sarcoma: efficacy of ultrasound-based screening score

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Nagano Satoshi

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Background. The utility of ultrasound imaging in the screening of soft-part tumours (SPTs has been reported. We classified SPTs according to their blood flow pattern on Doppler ultrasound and re-evaluated the efficacy of this imaging modality as a screening method. Additionally, we combined Doppler ultrasound with several values to improve the diagnostic efficacy and to establish a new diagnostic tool.

A new approach to assess the gastrocnemius muscle volume in rodents using ultrasound; comparison with the gastrocnemius muscle index.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tim H J Nijhuis

Full Text Available INTRODUCTION: The purpose of this study was to determine the reliability and validity of a new non-invasive ultrasound technique to measure gastrocnemius muscle atrophy after nerve denervation in an animal model. METHODS: In sixteen rodents an eight mm sciatic nerve gap was created. In the following 8 weeks, each week, two rodents were euthanized and the gastrocnemius muscle was examined using two different ultrasound systems and two investigators. The standardized ultrasound measurement protocol consisted of identifying pre-defined anatomical landmarks: 1 the fibula, 2 the fibular nerve, and 3 the junction between the most distal point of the semitendinosus muscle and gastrocnemius muscle. Consequently, we measured the muscle thickness as the length of the line between the fibula and the junction between the two muscles, perpendicular to the fibular nerve. After the ultrasound recording, the muscle mass was determined. RESULTS: A steep decline of muscle weight of 24% was observed after one week. In the following weeks, the weight further decreased and then remained stable from 6 weeks onwards, resulting in a maximal muscle weight decrease of 82%. The correlation coefficient was >0.96 between muscle diameter and weight using both ultrasound systems. The inter-rater reliability was excellent for both devices on the operated side (ICC of 0.99 for both ultrasound systems and good for the non-operated site (ICC's: 0.84 & 0.89. The difference between the muscle mass ratio and the muscle thickness ratio was not more than 5% with two outliers of approximately 13%. DISCUSSION: We have developed an innovative, highly reliable technique for quantifying muscle atrophy after nerve injury. This technique allows serial measurements in the same animal over time. This is a significant advantage compared to the conventional technique for quantifying muscle atrophy, which requires sacrificing the animal.

Development of Flexible Capacitive Ultrasound Transducers and the Use of Ultrasound for Bone Repair

Science.gov (United States)

Wentzell, Scott A.

Ultrasound is a widely applicable technique for therapy in the biomedical arena. However, conventional ultrasound transducers are not conducive for non-planar surfaces. Therefore, we developed flexible transducers capable of performing ultrasound and evaluated their use in biomedical applications. Flexible capacitive ultrasound transducers based on micrometer-thick dielectric tapes were developed and fabricated. These transducers were able to be made by hand at low-cost while still demonstrating good tolerances in center operating frequency. Intensities of up to 120 mW/cm2 were recorded and operation was dependent upon the applied AC and DC voltages along with the thickness of the dielectric insulation. These capacitive ultrasound transducers were used to stimulate MC3T3-E1 murine osteoblast cells to investigate the effects of low-frequency ultrasound on osteogenic gene expression and anabolic signaling pathways. After stimulation by 94.5 kHz continuous wave ultrasound for 20 minutes, significant increases in the activation of the Wnt signaling pathway and concentration of intracellular calcium were observed. Daily stimulation by ultrasound showed a trend of increased osteogenic gene expression across the phases of matrix deposition, maturation and calcification by osteoblasts. Finally, the heating of osteoblasts for stimulating osteoclastogenic responses was investigated. The application of increased temperatures of 42 and 47 degrees Celsius for 5 minutes showed significant increases in the RANKL/OPG ratio in media conditioned by osteoblasts. However, the altered RANKL/OPG ratio was not able to generate increases in osteoclastogenesis for RAW 264.7 murine macrophage cells culture in the condition media. This was possibly due to high overall osteoprotegerin expression, or unwanted inducement of M1 and M2 macrophage activation in the cell population. The overall work of this thesis demonstrates the development of novel capacitive transducers. These conformable

[Ultrasound in monitoring of the second stage of labour].

Science.gov (United States)

Fouché, C J; Simon, E G; Potin, J; Perrotin, F

2012-11-01

In the second stage of labor, fetal head rotation and fetal head position are determinant for the management of labor to attempt a vaginal delivery or a cesarean section. However, digital examination is highly subjective. Nowadays, delivery rooms are often equipped with compact and high performance ultrasound systems. The clinical examination can be easily completed by quantified and reproducible methods. Transabdominal ultrasonography is a well-known and efficient way to determine the fetal head position. Nevertheless, ultrasound approach to assess fetal head descent is less widespread. We can use translabial or transperineal way to evaluate fetal head position. We describe precisely two different types of methods: the linear methods (3 different types) and the angles of progression (4 different types of measurement). Among all those methods, the main pelvic landmarks are the symphysis pubis and the fetal skull. The angle of progression appears promising but the assessment was restricted to occipitoanterior fetal position cases. In the coming years, ultrasound will likely play a greater role in the management of labor. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Effects of Interleukin 17 on the cardiovascular system.

Science.gov (United States)

Robert, Marie; Miossec, Pierre

2017-09-01

Cardiovascular diseases remain the leading cause of death worldwide and account for most of the premature mortality observed in chronic inflammatory diseases. Common mechanisms underlie these two types of disorders, where the contribution of Interleukin (IL)-17A, the founding member of the IL-17 family, is highly suspected. While the local effects of IL-17A in inflammatory disorders have been well described, those on the cardiovascular system remain less studied. This review focuses on the effects of IL-17 on the cardiovascular system both on isolated cells and in vivo. IL-17A acts on vessel and cardiac cells, leading to inflammation, coagulation and thrombosis. In vivo and clinical studies have shown its involvement in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases including atherosclerosis and myocardial infarction that occur prematurely in chronic inflammatory disorders. As new therapeutic approaches are targeting the IL-17 pathway, this review should help to better understand their positive and negative outcomes on the cardio-vascular system. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Ultrasound appearance of knuckle pads

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lopez-Ben, R. [Univ. of Alabama, Birmingham (United States). Dept. of Diagnostic Radiology; Dehghanpisheh, K.; Chatham, W.W.; Alarcon, G.S. [Univ. of Alabama, Birmingham (United States). Dept. of Medicine; Lee, D.H.; Oakes, J. [Univ. of Alabama, Birmingham (United States). Dept. of Surgery

2006-11-15

We describe the ultrasound appearance of knuckle pads. Retrospective analysis of imaging in a series of five patients initially referred for evaluation of periarticular soft-tissue swelling of the hands involving the dorsum of the PIP and MP joints. Two patients had associated Dupuytren's contractures. Ultrasound and radiographs of the hands in all patients were reviewed and correlated with clinical history and physical exams. Radiographs in four patients demonstrated dorsal soft-tissue thickening. Ultrasound exams showed increased dorsal subcutaneous thickening, with either diffuse or focal hypoechoic areas corresponding to the areas of soft-tissue fullness identified on physical exam. No erosions or synovial proliferation were identified either by radiographs or ultrasound of the underlying joints. Knuckle pads can sometimes be difficult to distinguish from synovitis on physical examination. Musculoskeletal ultrasound can quickly identify these superficial lesions and exclude underlying synovial proliferation.

Ultrasound effects on brain-targeting mannosylated liposomes: in vitro and blood-brain barrier transport investigations.

Science.gov (United States)

Zidan, Ahmed S; Aldawsari, Hibah

2015-01-01

Delivering drugs to intracerebral regions can be accomplished by improving the capacity of transport through blood-brain barrier. Using sertraline as model drug for brain targeting, the current study aimed at modifying its liposomal vesicles with mannopyranoside. Box-Behnken design was employed to statistically optimize the ultrasound parameters, namely ultrasound amplitude, time, and temperature, for maximum mannosylation capacity, sertraline entrapment, and surface charge while minimizing vesicular size. Moreover, in vitro blood-brain barrier transport model was established to assess the transendothelial capacity of the optimized mannosylated vesicles. Results showed a dependence of vesicular size, mannosylation capacity, and sertraline entrapment on cavitation and bubble implosion events that were related to ultrasound power amplitude, temperature. However, short ultrasound duration was required to achieve >90% mannosylation with nanosized vesicles (ultrasound parameters of 65°C, 27%, and 59 seconds for ultrasound temperature, amplitude, and time were elucidated to produce 81.1%, 46.6 nm, and 77.6% sertraline entrapment, vesicular size, and mannosylation capacity, respectively. Moreover, the transendothelial ability was significantly increased by 2.5-fold by mannosylation through binding with glucose transporters. Hence, mannosylated liposomes processed by ultrasound could be a promising approach for manufacturing and scale-up of brain-targeting liposomes.

Diagnostic significance of ultrasound in dermatology

OpenAIRE

Stojanović Slobodan; Poljački Mirjana N.; Roš Tatjana

2002-01-01

Introduction Utilization of 20 MHz ultrasound probes provided application of ultrasound in dermatology - dermatosonography. As a diagnostic tool, ultrasound was first registered in the early fifties of the past century. Great progress of dermatosonography occurred in the mid-nineties with introduction of the first 20 MHz scanner. Methods of ultrasonography in dermatology Several methods of ultrasonography have been developed: method A, method B, scanning C method and Doppler ultrasound. They ...

Bas-relief map using texture analysis with application to live enhancement of ultrasound images.

Science.gov (United States)

Du, Huarui; Ma, Rui; Wang, Xiaoying; Zhang, Jue; Fang, Jing

2015-05-01

For ultrasound imaging, speckle is one of the most important factors in the degradation of contrast resolution because it masks meaningful texture and has the potential to interfere with diagnosis. It is expected that researchers would explore appropriate ways to reduce the speckle noise, to find the edges of structures and enhance weak borders between different organs in ultrasound imaging. Inspired by the principle of differential interference contrast microscopy, a "bas-relief map" is proposed that depicts the texture structure of ultrasound images. Based on a bas-relief map, an adaptive bas-relief filter was developed for ultrafast despeckling. Subsequently, an edge map was introduced to enhance the edges of images in real time. The holistic bas-relief map approach has been used experimentally with synthetic phantoms and digital ultrasound B-scan images of liver, kidney and gallbladder. Based on the visual inspection and the performance metrics of the despeckled images, it was found that the bas-relief map approach is capable of effectively reducing the speckle while significantly enhancing contrast and tissue boundaries for ultrasonic images, and its speckle reduction ability is comparable to that of Kuan, Lee and Frost filters. Meanwhile, the proposed technique could preserve more intra-region details compared with the popular speckle reducing anisotropic diffusion technique and more effectively enhance edges. In addition, the adaptive bas-relief filter was much less time consuming than the Kuan, Lee and Frost filter and speckle reducing anisotropic diffusion techniques. The bas-relief map strategy is effective for speckle reduction and live enhancement of ultrasound images, and can provide a valuable tool for clinical diagnosis. Copyright © 2015 World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Noninvasive Test Detects Cardiovascular Disease

Science.gov (United States)

2007-01-01

At NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), NASA-developed Video Imaging Communication and Retrieval (VICAR) software laid the groundwork for analyzing images of all kinds. A project seeking to use imaging technology for health care diagnosis began when the imaging team considered using the VICAR software to analyze X-ray images of soft tissue. With marginal success using X-rays, the team applied the same methodology to ultrasound imagery, which was already digitally formatted. The new approach proved successful for assessing amounts of plaque build-up and arterial wall thickness, direct predictors of heart disease, and the result was a noninvasive diagnostic system with the ability to accurately predict heart health. Medical Technologies International Inc. (MTI) further developed and then submitted the technology to a vigorous review process at the FDA, which cleared the software for public use. The software, patented under the name Prowin, is being used in MTI's patented ArterioVision, a carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) test that uses ultrasound image-capturing and analysis software to noninvasively identify the risk for the major cause of heart attack and strokes: atherosclerosis. ArterioVision provides a direct measurement of atherosclerosis by safely and painlessly measuring the thickness of the first two layers of the carotid artery wall using an ultrasound procedure and advanced image-analysis software. The technology is now in use in all 50 states and in many countries throughout the world.

Segmentation of breast ultrasound images based on active contours using neutrosophic theory.

Science.gov (United States)

Lotfollahi, Mahsa; Gity, Masoumeh; Ye, Jing Yong; Mahlooji Far, A

2018-04-01

Ultrasound imaging is an effective approach for diagnosing breast cancer, but it is highly operator-dependent. Recent advances in computer-aided diagnosis have suggested that it can assist physicians in diagnosis. Definition of the region of interest before computer analysis is still needed. Since manual outlining of the tumor contour is tedious and time-consuming for a physician, developing an automatic segmentation method is important for clinical application. The present paper represents a novel method to segment breast ultrasound images. It utilizes a combination of region-based active contour and neutrosophic theory to overcome the natural properties of ultrasound images including speckle noise and tissue-related textures. First, due to inherent speckle noise and low contrast of these images, we have utilized a non-local means filter and fuzzy logic method for denoising and image enhancement, respectively. This paper presents an improved weighted region-scalable active contour to segment breast ultrasound images using a new feature derived from neutrosophic theory. This method has been applied to 36 breast ultrasound images. It generates true-positive and false-positive results, and similarity of 95%, 6%, and 90%, respectively. The purposed method indicates clear advantages over other conventional methods of active contour segmentation, i.e., region-scalable fitting energy and weighted region-scalable fitting energy.

Classification of prostate cancer grade using temporal ultrasound: in vivo feasibility study

Science.gov (United States)

Ghavidel, Sahar; Imani, Farhad; Khallaghi, Siavash; Gibson, Eli; Khojaste, Amir; Gaed, Mena; Moussa, Madeleine; Gomez, Jose A.; Siemens, D. Robert; Leveridge, Michael; Chang, Silvia; Fenster, Aaron; Ward, Aaron D.; Abolmaesumi, Purang; Mousavi, Parvin

2016-03-01

Temporal ultrasound has been shown to have high classification accuracy in differentiating cancer from benign tissue. In this paper, we extend the temporal ultrasound method to classify lower grade Prostate Cancer (PCa) from all other grades. We use a group of nine patients with mostly lower grade PCa, where cancerous regions are also limited. A critical challenge is to train a classifier with limited aggressive cancerous tissue compared to low grade cancerous tissue. To resolve the problem of imbalanced data, we use Synthetic Minority Oversampling Technique (SMOTE) to generate synthetic samples for the minority class. We calculate spectral features of temporal ultrasound data and perform feature selection using Random Forests. In leave-one-patient-out cross-validation strategy, an area under receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of 0.74 is achieved with overall sensitivity and specificity of 70%. Using an unsupervised learning approach prior to proposed method improves sensitivity and AUC to 80% and 0.79. This work represents promising results to classify lower and higher grade PCa with limited cancerous training samples, using temporal ultrasound.

Ultrasound-assisted extraction of phenolic antioxidants from Acacia confusa flowers and buds.

Science.gov (United States)

Tung, Yu Tang; Chang, Wei Chun; Chen, Ping Sheng; Chang, Tzu Cheng; Chang, Shang Tzen

2011-04-01

Acacia confusa Merr. (Leguminosae), a species native to Taiwan, is widely distributed on the hills and lowlands of Taiwan, and has been used in traditional medicines. In this study, the application of ultrasound-assisted extraction was used to extract the phenolic compounds from A. confusa flowers and buds for the first time. Among the extraction methods, it can significantly enhance the contents of phenolic compounds and antioxidant activities in A. confusa flower and bud extracts using ultrasound-assisted extraction (10  min×12 times). Considering both the solvent consumption and the time needed for extraction, ultrasound-assisted extraction was found to be the most practical approach for the rapid and efficient extraction of bioactive phenolic constituents. In addition, gallic acid, myricitrin-3-rhamnoside, quercitrin-3-rhamnoside, europetin-3-rhamnoside, kaempferol-3-rhamnoside, rhamnetin-3-glucoside, and rhamnetin-3-rhamnoside were also quantified in different extracts by RP-HPLC. It is clear that ultrasound-assisted extraction is an efficient method for extracting phenolic compounds from A. confusa flowers and buds. Copyright © 2011 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Objective and structured assessment of lung ultrasound competence

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Skaarup, Søren Helbo; Laursen, Christian B.; Bjerrum, Anne Sofie

2017-01-01

RATIONALE: Point-of-care lung ultrasound imaging has substantial diagnostic value and is widely used in respiratory, emergency and critical care medicine. Like other ultrasound examinations, lung ultrasound is operator-dependent. The current recommendations for competence in lung ultrasound sets...... a fixed number of ultrasound procedures to be performed without considering different learning rates. Recommendations do not consider different uses of lung ultrasound across specialties. OBJECTIVE: To create a reliable, valid and feasible instrument to assess lung ultrasound competence that includes...... 23 ultrasound operators of different competence levels. Examination time was measured and skill was rated by experienced observers using the assessment tool. Inter-rater agreement was examined by two observers in 9 lung ultrasound examinations. RESULTS: Consensus was obtained within 3 Delphi rounds...

Imaging of cardiovascular risk in patients with Turner's syndrome

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marin, A.; Weir-McCall, J.R.; Webb, D.J.; Beek, E.J.R. van; Mirsadraee, S.

2015-01-01

Turner's syndrome is a disorder defined by an absent or structurally abnormal second X chromosome and affects around 1 in 2000 newborn females. The standardised mortality ratio in Turner's syndrome is around three-times higher than in the general female population, mainly as a result of cardiovascular disorders. Most striking is the early age at which Turner's syndrome patients develop the life-threatening complications of cardiovascular disorders compared to the general population. The cardiovascular risk stratification in Turner's syndrome is challenging and imaging is not systematically used. The aim of this article is to review cardiovascular risks in this group of patients and discuss a systematic imaging approach for early identification of cardiovascular disorders in these patients

Holistic ultrasound in trauma: An update.

Science.gov (United States)

Saranteas, Theodosios; Mavrogenis, Andreas F

2016-10-01

Holistic ultrasound is a total body examination using an ultrasound device aiming to achieve immediate patient care and decision making. In the setting of trauma, it is one of the most fundamental components of care of the injured patients. Ground-breaking imaging software allows physicians to examine various organs thoroughly, recognize imaging signs early, and potentially foresee the onset or the possible outcome of certain types of injuries. Holistic ultrasound can be performed on a routine basis at the bedside of the patients, at admission and during the perioperative period. Trauma care physicians should be aware of the diagnostic and guidance benefits of ultrasound and should receive appropriate training for the optimal management of their patients. In this paper, the findings of holistic ultrasound in trauma patients are presented, with emphasis on the lungs, heart, cerebral circulation, abdomen, and airway. Additionally, the benefits of ultrasound imaging in interventional anaesthesia techniques such as ultrasound-guided peripheral nerve blocks and central vein catheterization are described. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Sex steroids and cardiovascular disease

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bu Beng Yeap

2014-04-01

Full Text Available As men grow older, testosterone (T levels decline and the significance of this change is debated. The evidence supporting a causal role for lower circulating T, or its metabolites dihydrotestosterone (DHT and estradiol, in the genesis of atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease (CVD in men is limited. Observational studies associate low baseline T levels with carotid atherosclerosis, aortic and peripheral vascular disease, and with the incidence of cardiovascular events and mortality. Studies using mass spectrometry suggest that when total T is assayed optimally, calculation of free T might not necessarily improve risk stratification. There is limited evidence to support an association of estradiol with CVD. Interventional studies of T therapy in men with coronary artery disease have shown beneficial effects on exercise-induced myocardial ischemia. However, placebo-controlled, randomized clinical trials (RCTs of T therapy in men with the prespecified outcomes of cardiovascular events or deaths are lacking. Meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials of T published up to 2010 found no increase in cardiovascular events, mortality, or prostate cancer with therapy. Recently, in a trial of older men with mobility limitations, men randomized to receive a substantial dose of T reported cardiovascular adverse effects. This phenomenon was not reported from a comparable trial where men received a more conservative dose of T, suggesting a prudent approach should be adopted when considering therapy in frail older men with existing CVD. Adequately powered RCTs of T in middle-aged and older men are needed to clarify whether or not hormonal intervention would reduce the incidence of CVD.

Sex steroids and cardiovascular disease

Science.gov (United States)

Yeap, Bu Beng

2014-01-01

As men grow older, testosterone (T) levels decline and the significance of this change is debated. The evidence supporting a causal role for lower circulating T, or its metabolites dihydrotestosterone (DHT) and estradiol, in the genesis of atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease (CVD) in men is limited. Observational studies associate low baseline T levels with carotid atherosclerosis, aortic and peripheral vascular disease, and with the incidence of cardiovascular events and mortality. Studies using mass spectrometry suggest that when total T is assayed optimally, calculation of free T might not necessarily improve risk stratification. There is limited evidence to support an association of estradiol with CVD. Interventional studies of T therapy in men with coronary artery disease have shown beneficial effects on exercise-induced myocardial ischemia. However, placebo-controlled, randomized clinical trials (RCTs) of T therapy in men with the prespecified outcomes of cardiovascular events or deaths are lacking. Meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials of T published up to 2010 found no increase in cardiovascular events, mortality, or prostate cancer with therapy. Recently, in a trial of older men with mobility limitations, men randomized to receive a substantial dose of T reported cardiovascular adverse effects. This phenomenon was not reported from a comparable trial where men received a more conservative dose of T, suggesting a prudent approach should be adopted when considering therapy in frail older men with existing CVD. Adequately powered RCTs of T in middle-aged and older men are needed to clarify whether or not hormonal intervention would reduce the incidence of CVD. PMID:24407188

Results of vardenafil mediated power Doppler ultrasound, contrast enhanced ultrasound and systematic random biopsies to detect prostate cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

Morelli, Girolamo; Pagni, Riccardo; Mariani, Chiara; Minervini, Riccardo; Morelli, Andrea; Gori, Francesco; Ferdeghini, Ezio Maria; Paterni, Marco; Mauro, Eva; Guidi, Elisa; Armillotta, Nicola; Canale, Domenico; Vitti, Paolo; Caramella, Davide; Minervini, Andrea

2011-06-01